The BMW XM Label cuts a fearsome sight in frozen black with red accents, hiding the 738 horsepower lurking under the hood courtesy of a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 and an electric motor. Now, imagine a fleet of these hunkering beasts in the Al Nassr football club parking lot.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mané, and other footballers in the team have just been given a fleet of BMWs including the BMW XM and 7 Series. A result of a three-year partnership between the team and Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors, the official BMW importer of Saudi Arabia, BMW is now the team’s official automotive partner. As part of the deal, EV charging facilities will also be set up at the club premises.
Al Nassr joins the ranks of elite European football clubs like Real Madrid and AC Milan in welcoming BMW as their company cars. Star players also seem to have received personalized cars, including the BMW i5, BMW i7, and BMW XM models.
Ronaldo’s car, for example, bears his signature and name on the vanity license plate. Sitting right at the top of the BMW XM lineup is the XM Label, wearing a hefty starting price of $185,000, a decent upgrade over the XM’s starting price of $160,000.
While Ronaldo has a prized car collection worth over $22 million at his disposal, it’s not clear yet what the terms of these complimentary cars are. Maybe seeing the club’s star players roll up in BMW XMs would prove a welcome break from the cavalcade of Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys.
