BMW X4 due here in 2014

The BMW X4 is being previewed as a concept car at the Shanghai motor show this month but is already a certainty for production as the German brand stretches its SUV stable.

It's the junior development of the super-macho X6, a little daintier in the details but still a cross between a coupe and a high-rider SUV.

The X4 is likely to be priced from around $63,000, which would make the Range Rover Evoque its most-likely rival and Porsche also expected to compete with its upcoming Macan.

Its mechanical package is donated by the X3 wagon but there are major changes to the body as BMW looks to cash-in on the worldwide success of the X6.

“It's a concept that seems to be gaining support. It blends the X features of an SUV with the design elegance of a coupe,'' the product planning boss of BMW Australia, Toni Andreevski, tells Carsguide.

“With X6 we introduced a new concept. It's been a tremendous success internationally and in Australia we've sold more than 2000. This year X6 sales are again up by more than 20 per cent.''

BMW describes the X4 Concept as a sports activity vehicle and all of its early communication is focussed on the design. But it's big, with an overall length of 4.8 metres and standing 1.6 metres tall, and rolls on 21-inch alloys.

Andreevski sees a clear opening for the X4, although he is not ready to talk about a potential extension of the M range into the newcomer.

“If you look at our experience with X models, we were a trailblazer with the X5 and ... with X6 we're still unique in the segment. And that car came out in 2008.

“We would like to extend the X family further, but also put a more emotional product in the mid-sized segment. It's something that's clearly differentiated from the X3 and we want to conquest more modern customers who are less functionally oriented.''

He is clear on timing for the X4 and fairly open about pricing. “We'd like to see it in Australia in 2014. It would be about the third quarter,'' Andreevski says, “You could imagine it costing anywhere between $3-5000 more than an equivalent X3. At least a couple of thousand dollars more.''

This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover