Quote:
Originally Posted by Ibiza
Quote:
Originally Posted by mose121
So where are all the more affordable enthusiast based models that were supposed to be made viable by selling the dozens of other models that have overly bloated the model lineup? Still no Z4M planned, haven't heard anything about a small entry level ///M product, G3X wagons aren't coming to the U.S., but thank God the hideous beast that is the X7 is coming to market. Come on BMW. Several years straight of record sales and were still not getting any bones thrown our way. Give us a pure, simple, lightweight, 2 door coupe ///M car at an entry level pricepoint. The M2 doesn't count. I'm talking about a two door, two seat, no frills, sports car.
|
Simply answer is profit margins. Why cannibalize US manufactured SAV sales with a wagon that needs to be important from Germany? BMW AG is going upmarket with the X7 & 8 for higher profit margin.
What do you consider an entry level ///M, $30,000? No way would BMW NA import that to the US market, nor would R&D costs be recouped at that price point. |
I'm not buying the profit margin per unit argument, and BMW's decision in the mid 2000's to move to a model based on sales volume after they ousted the old guard and brought in a bunch of bean counters from Japanese brands, would seem to support my statement.
Development wise, there's no reason they couldn't have developed a car like this by sharing the new Z4 platform. That would have reigned in costs and spread them out over 3 different models if you include the Toyota variant. Something BMW already does on several current models.
My point is really that BMW said going to a higher sales volume business model would allow them to produce lower production (and lower margin) enthusiast based products. Well, it's been 15 years and a decade plus of record sales and profits. So, where are these models they said they'd build and can clearly afford to build for niche markets?