BMW has revealed its Concept X2 SUV

The BMW X6 is a sportier, swoopier version of the X5. Ditto the X4 to the X3. And so we come to today’s new micro-niche, the new BMW Concept X2, which is, as you guessed, a sportier version of the X1.

Why? “The BMW Concept X2 is a vehicle for active people looking for a combination of enjoyment and practicality,” says BMW’s senior VP Adrian van Hooydonk. “The concept displays a new and exciting facet of the BMW brand within the compact segment.”

Quite. So, it’ll share a platform with that X1 – which is also used for the 2-Series GT and Mini Countryman – and likely come with all of the X1’s 2.0-litre petrol and diesel-engined offerings, in various power outputs.

Looking at the Concept X2’s rather handsome features – that enormous grille, those huge air intakes, ‘muscular’ surfaces and so forth – and the continual mention of a sporting philosophy by BMW, surely a hotter X2 is also being considered? Something like an X2M, with a turbo’d straight-six and many horses...

Only time will tell. “The BMW Concept X2 combines the fast-moving body language and slow-slung proportions of a coupe with the robust construction of an X model,” adds BMW’s chief designer Karim Habib.

Expect to see the production version - which will carry the same outline only with less concept garnish - in 2018.