BMW Removing Some Body Styles in the Future

BMW has been releasing a lot of niche vehicles in the past and it has come to a point where there are just too many body styles available. Right now, there are too many niche cars in the portfolio of the German brand. BMW’s Ian Robertson has confirmed that they will have no choice but to reduce them.

“The checkerboard of body styles and segments is rather full, although there are still a few to be finished,” says Robertson in an interview with Car and Driver. “We’ve got an X2 and an X7 coming, and there are a few others, but I also know—because we’ve taken decisions—that some body styles will be removed in the future.”

The reduction seems to make sense, but unfortunately for us, some of the models that we really like may be eliminated in the process. Body styles such as coupes and convertibles may actually be removed. “The segment that is not really progressing is the roadster segment,” said Robertson. “It never really recovered after 2008, and it never picked up in Asia. Therefore we’re working with Toyota on a platform to try to gain some economies of scale.”

“There’s definitely more of a move toward four-door coupes. We’ve done the Gran Coupes; they’ve really worked. People like the lower seating position and the sporty dynamics but also the fact there’s a door in the back. It’s fair to say that when we look at the checkerboard, because of the new things we’re putting in, there are some things we can take out.”

Mercedes-Benz is also going the same route. Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz, told Car and Driver: “The specialty cars, these coupes and convertibles, were always niche cars,”. He continued by saying that the Chinese market has a lot to do with the need to drop some of these models. “The expansion into China and other emerging markets [has given] huge opportunities for sedans, but they did not take up these specialty cars. Which makes the business case for these vehicles less easy.”

Source: Car and Driver