BMW News: BMW's Upcoming Crossover Mania

[William Maley]

Within the next two years, BMW's crossover lineup will undergo a massive change with two key models undergoing a redesign and two new models joining the family. Australian outlet Motoring has learned some key details about the models in question and possible debuts.

• X2: Think X1 in a sleeker package. Previewed last year at the Paris Motor Show, the X2 will come with a range of three and four-cylinder engines. Drivetrain choices will include front or all-wheel drive. It is expected to launch sometime early next year.
• X3: One of BMW's most popular models, the next-generation model is expected to go on sale in Europe sometime later this year with other markets to follow. It will use the CLAR (Cluster Architecture) platform that underpins the 5 and 7-Series. Expect a range of four and six-cylinder engines.
• X5: The X5 is a big seller in key markets and BMW has reportedly fast-tracked the replacement to go into production beginning in late 2018. It will also use the CLAR platform.
• X7: BMW's new flagship SUV and challenger to the likes of Mercedes' GLS. It will also use the CLAR platform and feature a range of engines including six, eight, and even a V12 option. A concept version is expected to debut at Frankfurt later this year, with production beginning in late 2018.

Source: Motoring

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[A Horse With No Name]

Cue the sheep complaining that Cadillac is doomed because it does not offer enough crossovers...

[G. David Felt]

I actually wonder about the V12 option, if it stays and shows up, this will probably be the last Hurrah for the engine. I would honestly expect I6, V8, and V8TT before along with Hybrid.

[smk4565]

Smart move by BMW, crossovers are what sells.  The V12 Will probably be a last hurrah, but I think it will also force Mercedes to do a Maybach GLS with a V12 also.  

[balthazar]

Perhaps a focused look : @ BMW- the X4 and X6 do NOT sell- "no one buys them". The X1 isn't setting the sales chart on fire either @ 2400/mnth... so not seeing where an X2 is going to do much more than split off from the 2 CUVs on either side.
An X7 sales would be absolutely in the toilet- just like the 8-series coupe will be.
BMW needs to clean out its catalog and revamp Mini or shutter it.

[frogger]

The x1 sells  20k+ a month globally, I'd say it is doing pretty well.  If the X7 sells 5k a month globally, a third of what the x5 does, I think they would be good with that.

[Frisky Dingo]

Ugh.

And they will continue to make all of their sedans boring reinterpretations of 90's Buicks.

 

At leas the X3 isn't going FWD.

[G. David Felt]

27 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Ugh.

And they will continue to make all of their sedans boring reinterpretations of 90's Buicks.

 

At leas the X3 isn't going FWD.

As far as we know, but with the craziness of BMW and the German Unions, who knows what stupid things they will do next.

[A Horse With No Name]

58 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Ugh.

And they will continue to make all of their sedans boring reinterpretations of 90's Buicks.

 

At leas the X3 isn't going FWD.

This is a GM forum, please show more respect for 90's Buick models....

30 minutes ago, dfelt said:

As far as we know, but with the craziness of BMW and the German Unions, who knows what stupid things they will do next.

The "Oatmeal" edition...in white only...because adding the color "Brown Sugar" would be too exciting for the brand at this point...

...and for the German car fans here who would not be able to understand differently....both of the above are sarcasm...sort of....

[smk4565]

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

Perhaps a focused look : @ BMW- the X4 and X6 do NOT sell- "no one buys them". The X1 isn't setting the sales chart on fire either @ 2400/mnth... so not seeing where an X2 is going to do much more than split off from the 2 CUVs on either side.
An X7 sales would be absolutely in the toilet- just like the 8-series coupe will be.
BMW needs to clean out its catalog and revamp Mini or shutter it.

I don't think X7 sales will be bad at all.  The X5 is a strong seller for them, and some people will want to upsize it.  And in the market the Infiniti QX80 and Lexus LX570 are not strong, BMW can beat the Navigator with ease, so then it gets down to Escalde and GLS and I think they can steal sales from both.  Plus the X7 will top out pretty high and they can compete with the Range Rover LWB Autobiography.

I think the X7 will outsell the 7-series sedan.

[G. David Felt]

18 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

This is a GM forum, please show more respect for 90's Buick models....

The "Oatmeal" edition...in white only...because adding the color "Brown Sugar" would be too exciting for the brand at this point...

...and for the German car fans here who would not be able to understand differently....both of the above are sarcasm...sort of....

 I so could say non PC things that would be very Sarcastic and funny and yet I would then be blasted. So I will just crack up laughing at your awesome comments!  

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

Perhaps a focused look : @ BMW- the X4 and X6 do NOT sell- "no one buys them". The X1 isn't setting the sales chart on fire either @ 2400/mnth... so not seeing where an X2 is going to do much more than split off from the 2 CUVs on either side.
An X7 sales would be absolutely in the toilet- just like the 8-series coupe will be.
BMW needs to clean out its catalog and revamp Mini or shutter it.

I see the points you're making but just as SMK is a die hard MB fan and they love their 20yr overpriced Dinosaur of a G Wagon, I believe there are hard core BMW fans that want an equal (X7) product to compete against MB and Cadillac in a high end SUV.

Overall, it will be interesting to see how it competes and how the Magazines rate the X7 to the G Wagon to the Escalade. Especially if Cadillac releases a V-Sport edition or V edition Escalade.

[A Horse With No Name]

22 minutes ago, dfelt said:

 I so could say non PC things that would be very Sarcastic and funny and yet I would then be blasted. So I will just crack up laughing at your awesome comments!  

I see the points you're making but just as SMK is a die hard MB fan and they love their 20yr overpriced Dinosaur of a G Wagon, I believe there are hard core BMW fans that want an equal (X7) product to compete against MB and Cadillac in a high end SUV.

Overall, it will be interesting to see how it competes and how the Magazines rate the X7 to the G Wagon to the Escalade. Especially if Cadillac releases a V-Sport edition or V edition Escalade.

I think a V sport is kind of unlikely, sadly in terms of the Escalade.  Actually, I think the BMW brand name has lost some of its luster, which should make it easier for everyone else. 

Benz will continue to sell well, but it again is a brand that has zero emotional appeal for me.

[G. David Felt]

5 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I think a V sport is kind of unlikely, sadly in terms of the Escalade.  Actually, I think the BMW brand name has lost some of its luster, which should make it easier for everyone else. 

Benz will continue to sell well, but it again is a brand that has zero emotional appeal for me.

Agree that Benz SUV/CUVs have ZERO emotional appeal also. Even the AMG versions of them are just BLAH!

Escalade all the way especially for me as the Benz has sucky interior of tight space that makes it hard for a big guy like me to enjoy a road trip.

[A Horse With No Name]

Just now, dfelt said:

Agree that Benz SUV/CUVs have ZERO emotional appeal also. Even the AMG versions of them are just BLAH!

Escalade all the way especially for me as the Benz has sucky interior of tight space that makes it hard for a big guy like me to enjoy a road trip.

....you don't even ahve to be tall to dislike Benz interiors. One honest complaint I ahve about them is they are often slightly counter intuitive, as if they are actually not designed for actual humans.

Given a chance to take a long road trip, I would choose a Civic SI over an E class....and the Civic SI doesn't even have the best interior of small performance cars.

[G. David Felt]

5 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

....you don't even ahve to be tall to dislike Benz interiors. One honest complaint I ahve about them is they are often slightly counter intuitive, as if they are actually not designed for actual humans.

Given a chance to take a long road trip, I would choose a Civic SI over an E class....and the Civic SI doesn't even have the best interior of small performance cars.

H'mmmmm  Wonder if your thoughts on the Benz interiors might not be what they really want since according to some here , automation will replace any need of us having to actually drive. Robotic intuitive?  

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

Neanderthal intuitive?  

Fixed that for ya...

[riviera74]

Even though crossovers are where the sales are, I rarely see a lot of X5 and X3 on the road.  Other models I have not seen at all.

Did BMW forget that The Ultimate Driving Machine should not include crossovers with questionable dynamics because of the (comparatively) higher center of gravity compared to its 3/5/7 series sedans?  Talk about undercutting your own USP.

[A Horse With No Name]

4 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Even though crossovers are where the sales are, I rarely see a lot of X5 and X3 on the road.  Other models I have not seen at all.

Did BMW forget that The Ultimate Driving Machine should not include crossovers with questionable dynamics because of the (comparatively) higher center of gravity compared to its 3/5/7 series sedans?  Talk about undercutting your own USP.

They have completely forgotten that idea I think.

[Robert Hall]

10 hours ago, riviera74 said:

Even though crossovers are where the sales are, I rarely see a lot of X5 and X3 on the road.  Other models I have not seen at all.

Did BMW forget that The Ultimate Driving Machine should not include crossovers with questionable dynamics because of the (comparatively) higher center of gravity compared to its 3/5/7 series sedans?  Talk about undercutting your own USP.

They are chasing the market...CUVs and SUVs continue to grow in the market, and fewer and fewer buyers actually care about driving experience.   They are succeeding at delivering premium/luxury CUVs/SUVs targeting the mainstream UMC buyers/leasors like Acura, Cadillac, Merc, Lexus, etc, as the performance sports sedan market that was their core fades away.

Anecdotally,  I saw a lot of X3s and X5s in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area--they seem to be as common as Merc SUVs, Lexus CUVs, and JGCs there...maybe 8 times out of 10 they are black or white. I have seen a number of them around the Cleveland area as well. 

Edited June 10, 2017 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

On 6/9/2017 at 11:54 AM, smk4565 said:

I think the X7 will outsell the 7-series sedan.

That's a no-brainer- the 7-series is in a hard tailspin; 524 units moved last month.

But the brand overall is in a long slow decline- down 11% last month, I don;t have much faith they can turn things around. The brand is tired.

[smk4565]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

That's a no-brainer- the 7-series is in a hard tailspin; 524 units moved last month.

But the brand overall is in a long slow decline- down 11% last month, I don;t have much faith they can turn things around. The brand is tired.

It is tired, but it is still the #2 luxury brand in the world.  They need the 8-series to bring some mojo back, and I think the X7 will help because people want crossovers and with a $100,000 crossover, it gives them another status symbol.  If they can get this crossover lineup revamped they'll be fine. They still have a pretty big sedan business compared to most luxury makers.

[balthazar]

The 6-series proved an 8-series won't make a dent and won't make the grade as worthy of production. Can't just change the number on the same formula and expect success. Should have addressed the 6-series- now there's a numeric hole in the lineup and "consumers are going to be confused".

For that matter, when are they going to address the market performance of the 7-series??

BMW overall sales dropped 32K last year, but more telling; their cars dropped 48K in the last 2. I can understand why they're splitting their own buyer pool at the bottom end, but the vehicles the brand is known for --the so-called 'ultimate driver car'-- is quickly going out the window for 'me too' CUVs. Once the brand perception erodes, what makes anyone 'need' to buy a BMW?

Edited June 10, 2017 by balthazar

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

The 6-series proved an 8-series won't make a dent and won't make the grade as worthy of production. Can't just change the number on the same formula and expect success. Should have addressed the 6-series- now there's a numeric hole in the lineup and "consumers are going to be confused".

For that matter, when are they going to address the market performance of the 7-series??

BMW overall sales dropped 32K last year, but more telling; their cars dropped 48K in the last 2. I can understand why they're splitting their own buyer pool at the bottom end, but the vehicles the brand is known for --the so-called 'ultimate driver car'-- is quickly going out the window for 'me too' CUVs. Once the brand perception erodes, what makes anyone 'need' to buy a BMW?

In terms of actual product GMC has them beat by a frieght train length or two.  BMW is riding on reputation and legacy.

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

That's a no-brainer- the 7-series is in a hard tailspin; 524 units moved last month.

But the brand overall is in a long slow decline- down 11% last month, I don;t have much faith they can turn things around. The brand is tired.

And showing no signs of being less tired.  I rarely see younger people driving them.