Quote:
Originally Posted by SCOTT26
Much negativity but again no one listens.
The auto industry is a global playing field. This is no longer about you.
BMW used to be a predictable car company we only made exciting cars for the enthusiast driver yet neglected the needs and demands from other customers for exciting cars to allow them to fullfill their daily requirements.
The X5 was the first step out of predictability and then we took other giant steps with the 1er , X3 , X1 , X6 and 5er GT because we found there were customers out there who we did not cater too and we can provide those needs with the BMW philosophy and added style.
These cars might be dismissed by brand enthusiasts and traditionalists but they do exactly what BMW needs them to do and that is provide business growth. BMW's global perspective has increased it has entered new markets and heavily penetrated the worlds largest market for luxury vehicles - China where it over took the US as BMW no 1 export market.
BMW is also experiencing a strong sales reaction within growing markets of India and Brazil markets that are emerging for auto makers.
BMW is well aware of US reaction to the 5er GT just as it is aware that even in the US the car does have a customer base enough to make the 5er GT sell its first year on the market - three years worth of combined units of the BMW 5er Touring (E61).
The car has done well within Europe and has seen an increase of units thanks to the introduction of a super-efficient 520d model. GT customers do not cater to adopt the opinions of other people. The 3er GT will bring prospective ownership to a new segment and we have to consider business customers aswell as new to the brand customers which our research had shown where the larger majority base that bought the 5er GT.
One market where the GT has excelled is China , on the streets of Europe a GT and a Mercedes-Benz R-Klasse are a rarity, not in China they are not.
GT customers in China choose it over the higher status of the Chinese only market 5er Li. The 3er Li which went on sale this past few months is also dominating the market and the 3er GT will also be available for Chinese customers.
The 5er Gran Turismo did not exactly win universal praise . But I have one and there is a dedicated forum here for owners , including from the US who can actually voice their opinion on why they chose the 5er GT. Or actually they cant because they become drowned out.
The GT series is a car that extends the customers option of a sedan,Touring, SAV and a MPV in one package but the car excells more in its excellent top-flight cabin and refinement heavily overlooked because of reaction to the exterior.
The 3er GT is an extension off of the architecture that sits under the new range of BMW's primarily F20 and F30 , the car is entirely cost effective to manufacturer from an economic perspective. BMW's CEO has publically claimed that the 3er GT is a car that will provide a substantial return because its development is already bought and paid for.
The 3er GT features more than the 5er GT its less business-like and retains the priotities of a 3er meaning that there will be areas for the keen to driver to exploit as per the segment. For what the 5er and 3er Gran Turismo represent is that for the customer they can have that much needed functionality and flexibility but with more style and individuality.
As long as there are new niches to exploit and new markets to explore BMW will continue to expand on the opportunity to appeal to a global audience.
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U said the F07 has done well in Europe & in China, any sales figures? AFAIK BMW had to throw in a lot of free extras in Europe in order to sell the cars. For example in UK very expensive options such as HUD, adaptive drive & comfort seats had to be given away. These are not individual dealer offers but offer by BMWUK. The 520d GT is a reaction to the poor sales & it didn't help at all as the engine is massively overwhelmed by the heavy body.
In China it's appeal is limited by the fact that the market much preferred traditional 4dr saloons & that it's priced in between a 5er Li & a F01/02. If u can pay that much (RMB1.7m for a 550iGT) u'd rather have sth that starts with a "7". Sales of the F07 is virtually non-existent in most SE Asian markets due to heavy taxation on imports. The only place where it has moderate success is Hong Kong, but then again that's due to it's lower pricing compared to the equvalent F10/11.
The F07 itself have a lot of fundamental flaws to the product, not least there are issues with it's packaging (bad boot space when u want respectable rear legroom & vice versa, exterior dimensions too big, car too heavy) & compromised chassis dynamics. It's neither a saloon (styling not graceful enough), nor a touring (badly compromised cargo *******, it's not a SAV (doesn't have the looks nor the drivetrain) & definitely not a MPV (only 5 seats).
Yes, we live in a globalised world now & sales growth of luxury cars are much higher in BRIC/emerging markets than the western world, but the tastes & requirements of those markets are not of the niche occupied by GT. In fact if such a niche is so lucrative then why no headlong rush by other premium manufacturers? U did talk abt the Merc R-class, it's a relative success in some markets not because it's a successful niche product, but for those markets luxury SUMPVs are considered as direct competitors to traditional luxury saloons. Then again in those markets it's outsold by it's 2 competitors by a huge margin, & both are Japanese (Toyota Vellfire/Alphard & Nissan Elgrand).
In 2011, USA is still the largest market for BMW in sales volume (over 18%), then comes Germany (17%) & China (14%). For 2012 the status quo likely remains as growth of luxury car sales in China slowed dramatically due to clampdown by the PRC govt.
BMW has mostly got good track record in entering established market segments, the main exception being the 1er as a lot of their sales are to fleet/rental markets in Europe. The X5 went into the premium SUV segment with great success due to a very good product. On the other hand BMW is not very good at creating new market niches, & that's due entirely to products that are strangely off-song when compared to their more mainstream products, as well as the so-called niche itself being poorly defined with huge overlaps on either side of the market. Ok, the 3er GT is all paid for but resources are still used up during R&D, which I think should be better utilised by spending it on other branches of the F3x line where success is guaranteed if they get the product right.