You might think that now that Mercedes is coming out with a four-door-coupe-wagon, the four-door-coupe craze of the last several years might be ready to disappear in a puff of internal contradiction… but you’d be wrong. So focused was it on the four-door-SUV-coupe and the bloated-sedan-hatch-cum-GT niche, BMW completely slept through the four-door-sedan niche that Mercedes first attacked in 2004. And as far as the Bavarians are concerned, it’s better to attack a niche late than never. And they’re doing so with a “GranCoupe” that is remarkably similar to the existing 6er coupe… only with two doors. The entire premise behind the four-door-coupe is that it combines the practicality of a sedan with the panache of a coupe. The problem, in this case, seems to be that BMW’s 6er coupe has so little panache, this four-door model blends right into Bee-Emm’s increasingly indistinguishable lineup. Between that and the late attack on a played-out segment, it’s difficult to harbor high hopes for this latest niche-warrior.
Tagged as Design, Differentiation, Future Vehicles, Germany, Luxury, Marketing, Niche
11 Comments on “Here Comes Another Four-Door Coupe!...”
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This holds the same interest for me as the new Saab 9-5.
But…but this will be most good looking car in this genre and in general, too. Look at this photo, if they really make it happen like this it’s much better looking than anything MB, Audi etc. have tried:
http://www.carsguide.com.au/images/uploads/bmw-6-series-4-door-w.jpg
Agreed. If, for whatever the reason, you have to have a four door coupe, this is going to be the best looking of the bunch. And (at least in Europe) you will be able to order it with BMW’s excellent turbo inline sixes, both gas and diesel
Sorry, if it has more than two doors it’s not a coupe–that’s just marketing BS. I suppose a 3rd door in the form of a hatch would be OK.
“it’s difficult to harbor high hopes for this latest niche-warrior.”
The only person easier to separate from their money than a current BMW driver is an aspiring BMW driver. They’ll sell loads of these.
the Panamera make the x6 look ugly
I was thinking the reverse.
Looks simply stunning as far as I’m concerned. Much better than the somewhat awkward looking new CLS and Audi’s 5 door hatchback that’s supposed to play in this 4-door coupe segment.
I don’t care as much that BMWs are starting to look alike more and more. I think the new ones look pretty good and the proportions are always right*…Long hood, cab backward, short nose overhang, you can see it’s RWD.
*When talking about BMWs I usually ignore the existence of the X6, X1, 5GT, hypothetical 3GT and most of all, the upcoming unnamed FWD abomination.
Serious powerlol at comparing that to the A5 sportback.
A7 mate…A7…
Oh please. As if its indistinguishable.
Best one yet.