What's Wrong With This Picture: Four-Doors Recouped Edition
With the debut of Audi’s A7 Sportback, and a BMW four-door GranCoupe coming in 2012, it’s clear that the four-door coupe segment is here to stay. At least in Europe. This year Mercedes is coming back into the segment swinging, with an updated CLS shown here in the first leaked official images [via Autocar]. But will the four-door coupes ever make serious headway in the US market? In the last 12 months, the CLS has sold fewer than 2,000 examples in the US market. VW’s Passat CC on the other hand has sold 29,114 units in the last 12 months, more than double the volume of the regular Passat. What does this say about four-door coupes in the US market? Probably that their sales depend heavily on the appeal of their sedan versions: Mercedes sedans have become handsome enough to make the CLS look overstyled, while the CC offers much-needed visual flair to the otherwise-anodyne Passat. But will the segment grow as BMW and Audi wade in?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
@ SVX pearlie: Don't worry about station wagons called "Touring": BMW already covers this problem, at least in Germany. The BMW station wagons are officially named "touring" for ages.
I can't load the other pics because the site is too slow. Again. I don't know what it is, but TTAC and FoxNews are the slowest sites around. Consistently, and no matter which computer I use. So to hell with it. Based on the photo accompanying the article, I like this MB. But that's all I can say for now.