In an industry as competitive as automobiles, car manufacturers quickly realize that to stand still is to fall behind.
Just as Johan de Nysschen announced his high-profile move from an executive position at Audi of America to his new station as global vice president of Infiniti, activity from BMW reveals some more major changes in the premium car market.
Forum members of Bimmerpost recently uncovered trademark filings from BMW to reveal that multiple monikers have been added, suggesting a major expansion to the Bavarian automaker's range of vehicles.
Of the long list of filings, a couple designations in the alphabet soup really stood out. First, talks of a performance variant for the 7-series flagship sedan have been raised over several years but the recent filing of the "M7" moniker suggests that BMW is getting very serious about the possibility. According to MotorAuthority, BMW North America chief Ludwig Willisch suggests an M7 should be due in about three years, if given the green light. As its "M" badge suggests, the M7 is slated to compete against performance luxury sedans including the Audi S8 and Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG.
What's more, an obscure M10 filing suggests the possibility of a standalone performance vehicle. Any comment regarding a BMW M10 is pure speculation at this point, but MotorAuthority believes this could mean a halo sports car to take on the Audi R8 or Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, something BMW enthusiasts have been looking forward to for a very long time. Other M badge filings include the M1 and M2.
BMW seems to be actively developing its line of EfficientDynamics vehicles as well. Filings have covered all "i-designations" from i1 through i9. A parallel E1 through E9 naming system has also been filed.
BMW isn't just expanding it's own line-up, but filings for upcoming Rolls-Royce vehicles are shown here too. These names include icons Corniche, Shadow, Cloud, Wraith, and Dawn. Considering that only Phantom and Ghost models are currently available in the line-up, a few more models can make for an exciting future as the English marque continues to benefit from the growing Chinese market.
Scroll below to see the complete list of registrations. Keep in mind, some monikers are filed simply to ensure future availability if a need arises and are irrelevant to whether a specific vehicle is in the pipeline.
-Grand Tourer
-Urbanic
-Compactive, Compactive Tourer
-E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E9
-i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8, i9
-X2, X4
-M1, M2, M7, M10
-M35, M40, M55, M300, M350, M400, M500
-M130, M135, M140, M230, M235, M240, M330, M335, M340, M430, M435, M440, M450, M550, M650, M750
-M50d
-Z8
-GC, Gran Coupe, BMW Gran Coupe, 6er Gran Coupe
-SportMode, CoolMode, Air Collar, BMW Turbotec, Drive eCharged, LifeDrive, i Pedelec
-Corniche, Shadow, Wraith, Cloud, Dawn
