Is This BMW’s Rumored Five-Eighths Ton Pickup?

Rumors have been swirling — mostly in a counter-clockwise direction —  on automotive websites about a BMW-badged five-eighths ton pickup truck built on the platform of the upcoming X7 crossover.  Now, a photograph of what appears to be a test mule has popped up on a number of BMW internet forums.

While BMW is keeping mum about the vehicle, an anonymous BMW insider said his mum told him that the hybrid truck will be equipped with a 55-horsepower electric motor paired with the corporate twin-turbocharged 4.4 liter V-8, allowing the truck to travel approximately 270 feet using only the electric motor.

The source also claimed BMW will christen the vehicle the 445iXDriveActiveHybridPritischenwagen.  An M version reportedly was nixed after it was determined there was not enough room on the truck’s tailgate for an additional letter.

Automotive analyst and failed Amway salesman Horst “Lou” Pferdestärke claimed such a truck makes sense, saying, “BMW needs a pickup in their lineup, and sometimes a half-ton is too small and a three-quarter ton is too large.  However, I was expecting them to build an eleven-sixteenths ton truck.”