[ORIGIN M.]

You need to calm down !

NEXT /

Originally Posted by modkrazy

[modkrazy]

Originally Posted by Vanmarsenille

Makes no sense. An M3 coupé is the M4 and a 4 door M4 is the M3. Unless they are just looking for more metal to slap M badges on, this just doesn't make sense at all.

I think they are backtracking on their previous branding choice. The designation of "M3 coupe" still has a lot of historical cache to auto-enthusiasts. I know I wasn't pleased that the newest two-door option did not have the iconic designation, and I was far from the only one, with similar sentiments expressed in many publications during the initial review cycle.

Making the less "racy/sporty" (before anyone jumps down my throat, not talking about performance) 4-door version the M4 would have been more appropriate, and I think they finally realized that.

The 4-door M3 and 2-door M4 split may have made some kind of proportional sense when there was the 4-door M5 and 2-door M6, but with the grand coupe M6, there is no longer correlation between badge number and type of car.

More fuel for that "F8x = stopgap" fire, haha. I kid I kid.

[SCOTT26]

MUNICH -- In an effort to close a gaping chasm with segment leader Mercedes-Benz, BMW plans to expand its luxury product line to include a car above the 7 series that could poach customers from its rival's Maybach version of the S class.

"Just like certain competitors, we will see that we occupy with credible offers the price bracket of 150,000 euros ($170,000) and beyond," BMW development chief Klaus Froehlich said last week.

While BMW is attracted by the more lucrative margins that Mercedes earns on the Maybach versus its base S-class sedan, its future car would have to drive like a quintessential BMW.

Froehlich said his company wouldn't necessarily stretch the car another meter or two to achieve higher sales revenue.

"Some simply do 4 or 5 wheelbases [in length] and add varyingly thick chrome packages," he said. "That will not be the BMW approach."

BMW prides itself on the sporty genes that help the brand dominate the lower end of the market with nameplates such as the 3 series. But that can also act as a constraint. Wealthier car owners in the uppermost sedan segments are typically conservative and prefer stately comfort to the agile handling that BMW considers so crucial to its image.

About one of every two S-class models is sold in China, where driving dynamics play almost no role in purchasing decisions. Virtually all premium customers who buy the S class there have chauffeurs and traffic jams are frequent, eliminating any need for tight cornering, for example.

As a result BMW repositioned its 7-series flagship with the latest generation that launched in October, engineering a softer ride more like that of the S class. So far it has sold more than 9,000 units over about five months. Mercedes, by comparison, sold nearly 9,000 S-class units every month last year.

Nevertheless, even after shifting toward comfort, the brand remains exposed on the upper end of the range. The most expensive 7 series starts in Germany at around $126,000, and after that there is a big gap in the range until Rolls-Royce begins with the smaller Ghost/Wraith line.

This problem is heightened now that BMW's Rolls-Royce has declined in China largely as a result of a crackdown on corruption, which has prompted elites to eschew ostentatious shows of wealth for now.

By comparison, Mercedes has scooped up many of these former customers with a radically different strategy that at first was met with skepticism. In a move considered at the time to be an admission of failure, Mercedes exited the market for the superluxury cars in 2012, allowing Rolls and Volkswagen's Bentley to divvy up the customers between them.

Instead Mercedes took a different approach, resuscitating the then-defunct Maybach subbrand three years later in order to lend the name to a new exclusive family of top-of-the-line Mercedes cars. Starting with the Maybach S600 sedan, Mercedes has added the Maybach Pullman stretch limousine and is expected to eventually add a Maybach version of its GLS off-roader.

"The luxury class will remain a high-margin segment, so we intend to enhance our presence by adding another new model," BMW CEO Harald Krueger said last week.

BMW will be hoping to grab a piece of this market with what in some automotive press reports has been speculated as a 9-series Dreamliner.

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Originally Posted by AKRAPOVICOWNS

"Further expansion of the M product range is already being planned. "

Dont bother with the rest of the article. Hope theres a mid engine sportscar in those plans. With the exception of the M2' and to some extent the M3/4, the M lineup consists of heavy bloated rockets, pretty much what AMG was a few year back. Sad.

I couldn't care less about the i range, with those silly names like NEXT ONE bs. But if they are so much into it, theres probably someone that actually care about 'em.

The i-range is not profitable at all. No one actually buys the hybrid cars. All of that is only being built to appease stupid politicians and to comply with ridiculous emission targets so that more giant fuel burning SUVs can be sold in China.

BMW has said repeatedly they don't want to build a real sports car and that the i8 is there for that, which is evidently ridiculous. Which is why I'll keep on spending my cash elsewhere.