ATL Autobahn welcomed the 2020 BMW X6 in fine style at its launch on at the brand’s state-of-the-art Lady Musgrave Road showroom in St Andrew last Friday.

ATL Autobahn is the arm of the ATL Automotive Group responsible for the BMW and MINI brands.

In front of a full house, the new X6 received a drum roll by group Jameiks before having the covers pulled away.

“The X6 is a very important car for us because the X6 was a concept car that came out way back in 2007 and created a whole niche that was then filled by rival luxury brands and a lot of them seem to be trying to claim that niche. In this case the king has returned,” Sloane Jackson, head of business at ATL Autobahn, told Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

The new model joins the rest of the refreshed BMW line-up, packing in a lot of the upgrades, new technology and luxury.

“BMW has taken a mantra that I and my team use here for everyday work. We have to do more with less. So the new X6 is lighter, lower, but at the same time it has more headroom and legroom than before,” Jackson explained.

The X6 retains the iconic coupé styling that vaunted it to the top of the sales charts and creating a flurry of copycats. What is gone is the softer look of the previous models, replaced by a more aggressive appearance brought on by the new dimensions. It is lower by 6mm, longer by 26mm and wider by 15mm. BMW calls the new body-lines sharp, crisp, expressive, athletic and powerful. Pushing that design language even further is the new grill. Not only is it larger, but now owners can option for a function that lights it up. Adaptive LED lights are standard with BMWs Laserlight available. The new slimmer rear lights are LED as well. A power operated tailgate gives access to a larger trunk area than before.

“It’s faster than before while using the same sized engine, but producing more power and more torque. And again it gives you 36 miles to the gallon.”

The range is path is split in two, gasoline or diesel. The xDrive40i, the launch vehicle, with 340bhp represents the base gasoline motor. The xDrive30d has a 265bhp turbodiesel inline six-cylinder. The X6 M50i takes things up a notch with 530bhp. In usual BMW fashion there are M versions, the X6 M, and the X6 M Competition bearing significantly more power, up to 617bhp, available.

Inside, the X6 mirrors the X5 with an impressive cabin. Once past the Welcome Light Carpet guiding one to the doors, the inside is filled with creature comforts as standard leather, sports seats, and ambient lighting of which the Sky Lounge, inherited from the X5, keeps the cabin ultra-lux. The standard panoramic sunroof is 83 per cent larger for 2020, and has 15,000 LEDs embedded in it when equipped with Sky Lounge. If you’re not satisfied with having your own sky, then the Ambient Air package allows interior fragrancing for those who want their own atmosphere. Seats are heated and cooled, have a massage function. Also heated and cooled are the optional Thermoelectric cupholders.

This are monitored by fully digital instrumentation and run through the iDrive 7 infotainment system. Both use a 12.3-inch display, one of which is a touchscreen. Not that you need to touch anything the X6 as functions that aren’t automatic, can be accessed by speaking with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant or Gesture Control. Driving is made easy by the host of safety suites and automation, including Parking Assistant Plus and Reversing Assistant. The first will park the vehicle without driver input and the second keeps track of the last 50 metres of steering input in order to be able to play it backwards.

“2019 was a record year for BMW. We were the first premium brand in the history of Jamaica to sell three-hundred premium cars for one brand, and we also had a record year for MINI. They were fourth overall of the premium brands.”

Pricing for the BMW X6 starts at $18,600,000. The launch model xDrive40i, with its M Sport additions was listed at $29,000,000. The range tops out at $41,000,000 for the M models.