BMW's Game Changer – A Vehicle That Is Redundant Before It's Even On Sale
BMW’s new nomenclature dictates that coupes have an even numbered naming convention, while sedans get an odd numbered digit. But with the BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe, BMW has managed to disrupt the integrity of it right off the bat.
The Gran Coupe, said to be the black car in the center of the photographs, is just a 4-door 4-Series with a sloping roof. But a 4-door 4-series is, of course, a 3-Series. Aside from the sloping roof and the presumably missing center seat in the back, how is this at all different from a 3-Series? What’s the selling proposition? At least the 6-Series GC has a competitive set in the Audi A7 and Mercedes CLS, while offering a distinctive package versus the 5-Series. This really doesn’t look that different at all. Then again, luxury niche customers have always been ignored by the Germans…
More by Derek Kreindler
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I've seen several people make point of the 3-series being common as a legitimate reason in and of itself to buy the 4 What about the grand old idea of buying something you want and like, I've never purchased a vehicle on the basis of what others will think of me, they have all been bought because I wanted them and they made me happy. Is image really that big to some of you?
It's funny how the German automakers (starting with the first-gen Mercedes CLS and the VW CC; today BMW and Audi as well) began featuring frameless windows in their premium four-door cars at the same time that Subaru began to abandon them.