BMW To Move Away from Cars

[csv8]

It's the people-powered change from cars to SUVs at BMW.


The German brand re-wrote its rules, and changed the game for other prestige brands up to and including Porsche, when it introduced the X5 and now - with four X models in the range and more to come - it's forecasting a switch to SUV power in the not-too-distant future.

"I could see a time when SUVs account for 50 per cent of BMW sales. But we're talking a five-year horizon," admits the new managing director of BMW Group Australia, Phil Horton. He says runaway demand for the X5 and the latest X3, as well as the success of the controversial X6 coupe, is driving extra development in the SUV class.

"We've got a couple of things in the winds that we're not talking about. For BMW, in the far pipeline, there is more," he says. He refuses to confirm anything smaller than today's X1, although there is solid speculation in Europe that SUVs will be developed in the 1 Series family and also in BMW's electric-powered i range.

"There is no identified X model that will sit below X1 in the next five years," says, neatly sidestepping the question by putting a tight timeframe on the move. Horton also denies that the X-power change at BMW is diluting the company's key selling point, its driver-focussed enjoyment. "The X5 is the perfect encapsulation of the Ultimate Driving Machine. We're building them to be the best driving machines in the class," he says.

While BMW is developing more on the X front, the company is also considering a name change for its coupes and convertibles. Instead of staying with the 1-3-5-7 series it has used in the past, Horton admits there could be future models that use the even numbers pioneered on the Z4 roadster.

"The company is actively considering a nomenclature change,"he says. "It's all to do with the Chinese. They like the number four, apparently. "There are not a lot of numbers left for the proliferation of models that are likely to appear. There is active consideration of using the even numbers that we currently use. That would be two and four.

My comment..Ford need to get Fiesta/Focus/Kuga SUV's here, asap!! or be left behind, as usual...