After months of speculation, gossip and rumors, a BMW official has confirmed the production of the Gran Coupé, a four door sports sedan designed to take on the upcoming Audi A7 and next Mercedes-Benz CLS, as well as the Porsche Panamera.
Speaking with Autoweek, the company's development chief Klaus Draeger said the Gran Coupé will launch in 2012, a year after the debut of the next generation of the 6-series Coupe in 2011.
Draeger said the production version of the Gran Coupé, which was shown as a thinly disguised concept on the sidelines of the Beijing Auto Show in April, will be "closely aligned" with the 6-series coupe both in terms of technology/platform, and pricing. In the US, the current 650i starts from $78,450, while in Germany, the entry-level 630i costs €70,450.
The company has yet to decide on the name (the grapevine makes word of a 6-Series badge with a second moniker in the likes of the 5-Series GT nameplate) and whether or not it will offer the five-meter long sedan with a hybrid powertrain.
"We are in position to bring out an additional hybrid version since we are using the same powertrain architecture as the 5, 6 or 7 series," Draeger said.
As for the standard variants, since the Gran Coupé will be closely related to the new 5- and 7-Series premium sedans, expect to see the same lineup of straight-six and V8 powerplants, including an "M" model featuring the upcoming M5's turbocharged V8 flirting with the 600-horsepower barrier.
Source: Autoweek
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