6 Series BMW 6er Gran Coupe: spy pics and info

[klier]

The 6-series is caught in an awkward position. It has not been received that well by the Press and it's launch is as you said, a half arsed effort. I hate to say it, but the new 6-series will be another by-gone large BMW coupe like the 8-series or the previous generations of the 6-series. They will not sell well but will be fondly remembered when they are gone.

Don't agree.
Both your sales prediction and more importantly, your so called negative reception of the car by the press are wrong.
Looks like you've read one or two reviews, only remembered the few things that this particular reviewer didn't like, and made your opinion. Sure.
The car has been received well, the launch is not half assed and the car will sell like every other new BMW does. AKA very good. The only major downside is it's weight. But the car is big and a MB CL is even heavier

 

[SKY]

So, what will be the most crucial differentiation factor in the future? The tech certainly won't since the development is too rapid, and even compact cars are quickly adopting state-of-art tech after being introduced in much pricier cars.
The brand name? Heritage? Futurism? What?

With no paradigm shift car business is going to implode sooner or later. Too much virtual choices. Even between regular & premium.

As far as I remember, you are a marketing guy, the answer should be pretty obvious. Nowadays, design is the key factor inevery car purchase. I wouldn´t buy a car, no matter how good it drives, if I don´t find it beautiful.

 

[K-A]

Agreed. Design, brand cache/reputation (be it in quality reliability, and/pr premium/prestige), quality/reliability, efficiency. IMO these are all what really sell cars these days, first and foremost. Then you have comfort, sporty-tightness, and interior comfort/refinement qualities.

 

[Wunderkind]

Don't agree.
Both your sales prediction and more importantly, your so called negative reception of the car by the press are wrong.
Looks like you've read one or two reviews, only remembered the few things that this particular reviewer didn't like, and made your opinion. Sure.
The car has been received well, the launch is not half assed and the car will sell like every other new BMW does. AKA very good. The only major downside is it's weight. But the car is big and a MB CL is even heavier

Let's wait and see.

Scott27 is gonna hate me for saying it. But I am quite sure the 6-Series is going to be a repeat of the 5-Series GT (a failure).

Also, you can't compare the 6-Series against the Mercedes CL. The CL is nearer to the Bentley Continental GT.

 

[klier]

We don't have to wait and see wether your gut feeling is right or wrong. It's based on nothing and not worth a discussion.

And I can VERY MUCH compare the 6er to the CL. It's one of the few cars it can actually be compared to.

And the GT a failure? To you maybe, not to BMW.

 

[EnI]

Scott27 is gonna hate me for saying it. But I am quite sure the 6-Series is going to be a repeat of the 5-Series GT (a failure).

6-series a sales failure? Are you serious? Also: 5er GT is not a failure - perhaps in some markets, but in some it's a hit. So in general the car works. therefore the 3er GT is coming ... Which I guess will be much more successful since the shape will be sportier, the car will be cheaper, and attractive lower-end diesel engines will be offered 8the ones that are missing in 5er GT - preventing the car to sell in much higher volumes in some European markets; but it seems BMW will push 3er GT there ...). Mind 3er GT will be more a "5er hatchback" - just like 5er GT is more a "7er hatchback" in character.


Back to 6er ...
Sure eg. 6er GC will sell in lower volumes than eg. A7 or CLS if priced much higher. Like eg. Pananera. Would you call that a sales failure?

IMO 6er GC can eat quite much into SWB 7er sales in some markets - where 7er is bought as a status statement. While 6er GC can make an even greater statement: it's lower, sportier, more a true BMW (sporty "sedan"), and I expect the price to be quite similar to SWB 7er. And sure some 6er coupe prospects will also definitely opt for GC ... or later for 6er Shooting Brake ("6er GT"?). So, 6er is a family ... the customers split among varoious models. While eg. Panamera, CLS & A7 are still offered in a single model only ... while new ones are coming (CLS SB, A7 cabrio, Panamera cabrio?).

Regarding 6er coupe & cabrio demand: despite worse economy condition then in the times E63/4 6er was launched, the demand for F12/3 is higher then it was for E63/4 at launch.

As far as I remember, you are a marketing guy, the answer should be pretty obvious. Nowadays, design is the key factor inevery car purchase. I wouldn´t buy a car, no matter how good it drives, if I don´t find it beautiful.

Is it really? What "beautiful" means anyway? For the "Bangled" generation of BMW the general opinion was the cars were "ugly" - but they were still in demand. BMW even managed to surpass MB in sales worldwide in those times.

Is it enough for premium car to be beautiful? Or it also it's design has to be a bit interesting & intriguing, even controversial? Does its design have to make a statement? What's that added value of design people are willing to pay for? Sure hardly anyone would buy a car that he / she doesn't find at least a bit appealing ... but what's the thing a customer is willing to pay more when it comes to design? Does design - as added value - really matters so much? Does it at all?

I'm not talking about design as key factor in the car purchase decisions making (appealing vs unappealing) ... but about differentiation factor between regular & premium. About design as added value for the customer - something that a customer is ready to pay extra money for. Is it really happening? People paying extra for car designs? Or automotive industry still does not depend so much on design / styling so much?

Bangle & BMW tried to offer something different, something new, something people would pay more for. But did they?

 

[SCOTT27]

In Europe at least there is a high demand for the 640d. For the E63/E64 the best selling 6er model was the 635d which the 640d hopes to repeat the success of that car, as it is the only large Coupe in the segment with a diesel engine. Of course many were waitiing for the M-Sport Packets and the Coupe.
Next year's Gran Coupe is aimed primarily at the A7 , CLS and Panamera and will be extremely attractive even with the high performance 650d Gran Coupe.

If the 5er GT did not work out to initial expectations then there would not be a 3er GT. What is interesting about the 3er GT is that the car is in the right hands from the designer to the engineers who worked on the F07. What you might not know is that the GT has a predecessor although not officially in the guise of the 2002 GT Coupe prototype - If the 2002 morphed into todays 3er. And this is very much influencing the design which will again show some interesting new ideas in relation to classic BMW design cues.

I was @ Palo Alto yesterday at the BMW Group office of technology , amongst facebook and some other company and in the car park an E63 6er caught my eye even though we have the new 6er. The old car still stands out and looks new , the design was purely ahead of it's time.

 

[EnI]

Do not forget xDrive is coming to 6-Series ... this will definitely boost car's appeal in certain markets where AWD cars are much more in demand compared to RWD cars. And there will be more diesel engines available ... incl. the performance-oriented 50d Scott mentioned.

Stilll ... I will be VERY surprised if 6er GC is priced lower than the 2dr coupe - to compete directly with A7 & CLS.
IMO 6er GC is destined to be more a substitute to 7er SWB, and a direct rival to Porsche Panamera - price wise.

 

[Wunderkind]

BMW just doesn't do large coupes well. That is a fact. Name me one large BMW coupe that was ever a success in the sales charts. I'm not even going to compare the previous 6-Series to the Mercedes SL. The new 6-Series is very similar to the E31 8-Series in the sense that it looks great on paper but turn out to be rather mediocre in too many departments. And I am someone who still has a E31 in the garage (I'm keeping it for my dad).

Klier, you can be stubborn and compare the 6-series to the Mercedes CL and the Bentley Continental GT. You are entitled to your own opinion.

 

[GreyCoupe]

Loved my E24 L6, it has to rank as a major success. Lusted after CS for many years. Both big coupes of their era. E63 was said to be quite profitable.

Whether F13 is a hit or not remains to be seen. I was very much more impressed with the convertible in the metal than in photos. If same pattern holds with F13, I think it will be a winner.

 

[Wunderkind]

I loved the CS coupe concept also. but I doubted it would be well executed in production form.

 

[EnI]

Perhaps in car / technological / driving sense E63/4 6er didn't met expectations of some people ... Perhaps it was a "failure" in that sense.

But the 6-series was a true sales success - in the E63/4 7-year lifecycle BMW sold ~120k units of 6er models. While eg. MB sold 170k units of CLS in the car life-cycle. BMW's initial plan was to sell 100k units of 6er cars - so, they exceeded the plan by 20%, while MB planned to sell around 140k units of CLS (exceeding plans by 21%).

Mind the 6er price was higher, and the car was less practical then CLS - while CLS was cheaper, more practical (4dr) and a novelty (trend-setter) - and thus a status / statement car (something eg. X6 is in the BMW model portfolio), and also a very special model within MB line.

Not to mention 6er was also a business success - the car was very profitable.

Btw, BMW managed to sell 31k units of E31 8-series in the car's life-cycle (1989-1999).

So, in this respect 6er was definitely a success ... especially since - as you mentioned - BMW large coupes are not really company's specialty.

 

[montana]

BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe M Sport Hits Nurburgring For First Time

Looks really good!

 

[mave]

Only a few days...

 

[Morrison]

Only a few days...

How many ? Is it an official date of the revealing of this model ?

 

[klier]

Only a few days...

Really?

 

[Levi68]

Oh yes. Love the 6 GC over 5 Series and 7 Series, and all other cars with 4 doors and trunk. Of course Rolls Royce is on top of everything.

 

[mave]

Really?

Embargo is running down...

 

[klier]

Very good!

Keep us updated! (when does the embargo lift?)

 

[cracker123]

Dealers have gotten their order sheets about two weeks ago.



Here is my guess for the official US pricing for 650i Grancoupe : 73,000.

MB CLS550 is the segment leader in this class with about 750 cars sold in Oct and Nov, A7 is close second at 650. CLS550 MSRP is 71500 + 2000 for the 50000 maintenance. At 73000 6 Gran coupe can hold on very well against the MB CSL550. Lets see.