BMW may be plotting an X8 - could it compete with Maybach and even Rolls-Royce?

As the SUV population grows with more shapes and sizes ventured, rumours abound that BMW is preparing a new nameplate.

The German premium brand had by 2016 patented the X8 moniker. Reserving a patent usually signals a manufacturer's intention to start designing. At times it culminates in nothing - as merely a way to secure a name that cannot to be used by rival brands.

Now BMW has reportedly registered the "X8 M" patent with a trademark office, solidifying suspicions of a new model range in the horizon.

But what would an X8 look like?

Using BMW’s naming strategy over the past few decades, even numbers denote sportier, coupé-style variants ahead of the more conventional shapes of the 1, 3,5 and 7 Series. If the X8 materialises, sense dictates it will be built with the ethos of the X6, which is a curvier sister of the X5 SUV.

Is BMW toying with the idea of making a seven-seater jumbo coupe?

At this point, an X8 looks to be more sensible if it were to be an SUV that’s larger and even more luxurious than the X7 - to compete with the Maybach GLS or even the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Only time will tell.