It appears as if BMW is planning a dramatic expansion of its i-Performance sub-brand, recently trademarking the names of no less than nine new vehicles.

According to recent applications, BMW has acquired trademarks for iX1, iX2, iX3, iX4, iX5, iX6, iX7, iX8, and iX9. This is the clearest indication yet than the carmaker intends on bringing its advanced hybrid technologies to its popular SUV models, Autocar reports.

However, it is worth noting that there’s very little chance BMW will ever release nine i-branded SUV models. In all probability, most of the names have been trademarked simply to ensure no other carmaker can use them. For example, BMW trademarked i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8, and i9 in 2010 but so far, only the i3 and i8 have been built.

Whatever the company is planning, we recently learned that all BMW electric, plug-in hybrid, and internal combustion engine powered models built from 2020 will share the same platform.

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