PHYBENZ
G-Class Explorer
Car enthusiasts gulped in 2005 when BMW said it was thinking about making a vehicle that would offer a roomy interior, ample storage and other minivan attributes without being a van. Was that even possible?
Apparently not. In September, BMW quietly said it had killed the minivan-type vehicle that it had termed a "Space Functional Concept."
It just didn't fit with the BMW brand, said BMW sales chief Stefan Krause.
And the first rule at BMW is to respect the brand.
"Our brand delivers performance and sportiness," Krause told The Detroit News. "That's our brand promise."
After months of studies and internal discussions, the Bavarian automaker found that it could not combine the roominess and other characteristics of a minivan-type vehicle with the crisp handling expected of an Ultimate Driving Machine.
BMW is now focusing its efforts on developing a lower-to-the-ground model it calls a "Progressive Activity Sedan."
It will retain some of the characteristics of the V5, the code name for the scrapped minivan-type vehicle. BMW is expected to roll out the new model in a couple of years, industry analysts say.
Germany's premium carmakers have been exploring new segments since the 1990s, when growth in luxury sedan sales began to taper off.
Surveys consistently showed that luxury car buyers wanted more roomy vehicles. "That's how the (Mercedes-Benz) R-Class and the V5 came about," said Christoph Stürmer, a Frankfurt-based auto analyst with Global Insight.
Encouraged by their success with the attractive, firm-handling X5 SUV, BMW engineers took on the even trickier challenge of designing BMW's answer to the minivan.
They ran into problems right away. "The more sporty you make it, the less room you have," Krause said. "So then we said, 'Let's make the interior super-versatile to make up for the lack of roominess.'
"But as we continued to work on it, it involved too many compromises, and we felt it wouldn't be a BMW in its own right," he said. During the second half of 2006, the board concluded it wouldn't work. "We decided to move on."
Similar concerns had led BMW to abandon the idea of producing a so-called X7, a bigger X5 with a third row.
Instead it developed a coupe sibling to the X5, the X6 on display at the North American International Auto Show.
Meanwhile, Mercedes rolled out its roomy R-Class, which has struggled to find buyers.
"It had an unfamiliar shape; it was hard to define what it was," said Mark McCready of online retailer CarsDirect.com. "Buyers in that segment aren't trendsetters."
With the new model, BMW plans to deliver what it believes many buyers want: a vehicle that's smaller and lighter than a truck, with a low center of gravity to deliver car-like handling, but elevated seating. Says Krause: "There's nothing on the market like it right now."
You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
Apparently not. In September, BMW quietly said it had killed the minivan-type vehicle that it had termed a "Space Functional Concept."
It just didn't fit with the BMW brand, said BMW sales chief Stefan Krause.
And the first rule at BMW is to respect the brand.
"Our brand delivers performance and sportiness," Krause told The Detroit News. "That's our brand promise."
After months of studies and internal discussions, the Bavarian automaker found that it could not combine the roominess and other characteristics of a minivan-type vehicle with the crisp handling expected of an Ultimate Driving Machine.
BMW is now focusing its efforts on developing a lower-to-the-ground model it calls a "Progressive Activity Sedan."
It will retain some of the characteristics of the V5, the code name for the scrapped minivan-type vehicle. BMW is expected to roll out the new model in a couple of years, industry analysts say.
Germany's premium carmakers have been exploring new segments since the 1990s, when growth in luxury sedan sales began to taper off.
Surveys consistently showed that luxury car buyers wanted more roomy vehicles. "That's how the (Mercedes-Benz) R-Class and the V5 came about," said Christoph Stürmer, a Frankfurt-based auto analyst with Global Insight.
Encouraged by their success with the attractive, firm-handling X5 SUV, BMW engineers took on the even trickier challenge of designing BMW's answer to the minivan.
They ran into problems right away. "The more sporty you make it, the less room you have," Krause said. "So then we said, 'Let's make the interior super-versatile to make up for the lack of roominess.'
"But as we continued to work on it, it involved too many compromises, and we felt it wouldn't be a BMW in its own right," he said. During the second half of 2006, the board concluded it wouldn't work. "We decided to move on."
Similar concerns had led BMW to abandon the idea of producing a so-called X7, a bigger X5 with a third row.
Instead it developed a coupe sibling to the X5, the X6 on display at the North American International Auto Show.
Meanwhile, Mercedes rolled out its roomy R-Class, which has struggled to find buyers.
"It had an unfamiliar shape; it was hard to define what it was," said Mark McCready of online retailer CarsDirect.com. "Buyers in that segment aren't trendsetters."
With the new model, BMW plans to deliver what it believes many buyers want: a vehicle that's smaller and lighter than a truck, with a low center of gravity to deliver car-like handling, but elevated seating. Says Krause: "There's nothing on the market like it right now."
You can reach Christine Tierney at ctierney@detnews.com.
