Spy photographers have captured what appears to be the first prototype of the mysterious BMW X6 crossover. The X6 is believed to be a four-door crossover-coupe with a sloped roofline and sporty handling. BMW engineers have gone to great lengths to disguise the shape of the car's roof, but all indications are it will look something like the Volkswagen Concept A.

Spies say they were first unsure of the identity of this vehicle, since another X5 spin-off–the V5–is said to be in the works. But the V5 is supposed to be a uniquely space-efficient vehicle in the guise of Mercedes' R-Class, and this prototype doesn't seem to fit that description.

The X6 is likely still two years away from showrooms. Given its extensive component sharing with the new X5, that time-frame could be accelerated slightly.

BMW AG is preparing its Spartanburg, S.C., plant to build as many as 40,000 units a year of its new X6 crossover, says a source at a BMW supplier who asked not to be identified.

The vehicle is expected to be priced above $50,000 and compete with the Mercedes-Benz R class and Infiniti FX.

BMW's all-wheel-drive crossover will be based on the X5 crossover and is scheduled to arrive next year. BMW of North America CEO Tom Purves says the vehicle won't be as big as the Mercedes R class. It will have BMW sport handling and room for five adults, Purves says.

BMW has indicated that it intends to build a multipurpose vehicle at the plant but has not revealed a timetable or quantified production plans.

Last January, a consolidation of the plant's two assembly lines allowed for side-by-side production of the X5 and the Z4 roadster. It also made room for a future vehicle.

Another BMW supplier, Faurecia, is working "around the clock" to bid on work for the third vehicle, said James Orchard, president of the French company's North American unit.

Faurecia supplies the seat, cockpit and door modules for the X5 built in Spartanburg. Orchard said Faurecia is working with its German team to bid for business on the new vehicle and plans to supply cockpits and center consoles.

"We're heavily into launch mode" in Spartanburg, he said last week during a tour of Faurecia's new Sterling Heights, Mich., plant.

Orchard said he didn't know BMW's exact plans for production volume but added: "I think we're cross-calculating 40,000. But whether or not that will be the final number, we don't know."

Last year the plant built 104,632 Z4 and X5 models. As of Dec. 31, 2005, the plant had capacity to produce up to 160,176 vehicles a year, according to the Harbour Report.

BMW already has begun hiring at the plant. This month at least four job fairs are planned in the Spartanburg area.

In 2006 at least 500 temporary employees worked at the plant, in addition to the 4,500 permanent positions on the BMW payroll, said plant spokeswoman Bunny Richardson.

Shannon Caston, a supervisor at MAU Inc., the private placement company handling the hiring for BMW in Spartanburg, said the slots to be filled are temporary full-time positions in all areas of production. The workers will be employees of MAU, she said.

Caston would not say how many workers BMW has requested. But she said MAU has done a large amount of hiring for the plant since June.

"We're trying to anticipate the needs of BMW and have individuals ready to go," she said.

Richardson said BMW has a long history of using temporary workers, most recently last year while training permanent employees for five new models built in Spartanburg.

Production of the updated Z4 and the M roadster began last January. That was followed by the Z4 coupe and M coupe in April and the second-generation X5 in September.

Diana T. Kurylko contributed to this report.

While BMW’s Concept CS keeps people talking after the Shanghai auto show, work is well under way in Munich on another vehicle taking a slightly different approach to the four-door coupe concept: BMW’s X6.

BMW’s four-door coupe concept—or is it a five-door hatch?—straddles the space between the Mercedes-Benz CLS and R-Class.

The X6 takes the swoopy greenhouse-style über alles idea to the sport-utility front. Just as the CLS is basically a rebodied E-class sedan, the X6 will put a faster, sexier roofline on the latest-generation X5 that bowed last fall at the Paris auto show and is now on sale in Europe. The resultant X6 is one of those neither beast nor fowl niche vehicles: an off-road, four-door designed to look like a coupe with its low roofline.


Take a close look at the X6 mule seen here lapping the Nürburgring. While the windshield is more upright and the wheels of course smaller than the radical illustration (pictured right) we showed you a year ago, these photos suggest that the production model will keep the sharply rising beltline, as predicted. And the camouflage rear hatch that starts above the B-pillar is a good way to hide a rakish roofline, the sort that compromises rear headroom in the CLS and Concept CS. We do not, however, expect that rear spoiler to make it off the ‘Ring and onto production vehicles. Maybe as a dealer-installed accessory?

We expect the X6 to be offered with a choice of a diesel or gasoline six-cylinder engines (including the new twin-turbo inline-six in the new 3-series coupe). And, judging by the exhaust outlets and fat rear tires in the spy shots, a gasoline V-8 also appears to be in the lineup.

BMW will build the X6 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, beginning next year, which means upping capacity at the German automaker’s only U.S. plant yet again. The X5 and Z4 sports car already start life in Spartanburg. BMW expects to build about 50,000 X6s a year.

And BMW has hinted the next-generation X3 could make the oceanic shift from Graz, Austria, to the southern state in the future, which would be much to Magna Steyr’s chagrin, as the supplier is the contract builder of the X3 in Graz. But then, Magna could have its hands full if it ends up buying a chunk of Chrysler, so an X3 migration might not prove the end of the world. Maybe Dodge Avengers could fill that empty production “halle” in Austria?