Quote:
Originally Posted by Matski
Audi never had an A4 coupe in the first place, I'm pretty sure they introduced the A5 in response to the 3 series coupe... although it's pointless debating who built what first, and even more about who used which naming strategy first, that's not an important race to be leading... what matters at the end of the day is the quality of the product... in that respect, there is not much between the Germans (BMW, Audi, Mercedes)... it's simply personal preference for the most part. The M135 is a great car... that's all that matters.. not which marketing department opened up a different chapter in their "Lets learn our ABC's" the fastest.
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that's not what i meant
my point is BMW is trying to follow Audis lead in that the A5 is priced higher than the A4
i am willing to bet the price difference between the F32 and F30 will be higher than E92 vs E90
the fact is that BMW used to be tailred to people such as yourself, where pure driving please was of primary concern. Now its trying to outsell Audi and. More of bragging rights for the repsective CEOs
which also explains why M engineers used to say no to turbocharging etc
now they will stick an M badge on anything as long as it gains them a few extra car sales.
Basically BMW used to be like Apple now
they make great products, and the sales come
now BMW is looking at the end result of more sales, and trying to make cars that fit that, not great cars.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matski
Project-i has been a massive gamble for BMW, and logically it should pay off, its the right thing to do, done the right way... whether or not the market will bite... I'm not so sure. Look at the other manufacturers, they put Electric drive trains in existing bodies -- COMPROMISE. They design an electric car the same way as they design a normal car, NO VISION... the i3 and i8 represent new thinking from the ground-up.. cars like the R8 etrone, and the SLS e-cell... they are just lip-service to the idea of electric power, compromised because they are trying to be something they are not - compromisation at this level will not wash..... but like I say, that doesn't mean to say the i3, i8 will sell 
As for the "Ultimate Driving Machine", that slogan ALWAYS had holes in it... it's just people being nostalgic - and forgetting BMW have had bread and butter products that have been less than sporting for a long time.
I wouldn't worry about BMW if I were you. They appear to be the most free-thinking of the bunch... their strength has grown through their independence. This has led to them having to take certain paths, make certain decisions, and do things in a certain way... Check out the Audi Financial report 2012 - look at the Hundreds and hundreds of Millions of Euro's going back and forth between VW and it's other subsidiaries... The same with Daimler-Chrysler and Mercedes...
Do I think that BMW's line-up is perfect? No, there's lots I don't like, I would like a supercar, I would like more Z's, is their styling perfect? great? good? or even acceptable? sometimes no... but then I didn't fall for BMW because they made the best looking cars in the world.
BMW still make the great cars they always did... the M3, the M5, the M6, these still sit in the marketplace as those models always have done, we now have great cars like the M135i. The economical cars utilise BMW's great engineering skills, just targeted in a different way, and this era isn't unprecidented, now we have the 320 Efficient Dynamics, 30 years ago we had the 325eta... yes we have turbo-charging, but we also have governmental regulations to meet, and don't forget BMW used Turbo's to create one of the all-time classic BMW's the 2002 Turbo. Yes, we have GT models and Gran Coupe models that blur conventional lines... but there was a time when the lines had to be blurred for us to end up with the E30 Tourer, imagine now if BMW had not innovated and there'd never been tourers? -- there was a time when they had to make bubble cars and rear engined, motorcycle powered compacts in order to just survive... there was a time before BMW made SAV's, there was a time before 3/5/7...
Look past the nostalgia induced dogmas. If an Audi is the product you want to buy, then fine buy one, but if you buy an Audi because they had a naming strategy first, then you are a fool. BMW is a business, and they apply their principles to offer a desirable product to more than just the members of this forum.
You say 'dilution', I say 'choice'. You say 'marketing', I say 'so what... be clever, look at the product, not the presentation'...
I love BMW, I have done since I first saw an E24, I don't give a shit about the badge, I don't give a shit about LED head lamps, or whether or not the LCI will change the tail-lamps, I don't care much for most of the things people on here complain about either, I don't care if BMW are making cars I don't need or don't like... I will care when they start making bad cars.. but for now...
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problem is right now there are quite a few cars that don't fit into the ultimate driving machine thing anymore.
and my fear is this will continue, just to keep selling more cars
keep in mind the whole "selling more" strategy doesn't always work
In the UK for example, people used to buy BMWs to be exlcusive
right now, it's the biggest selling model (3 series) and if you want exclusivity you'd be getting a different car
if the premium brand becomes common, it is no longer premium
when your marketing department starts to give direction to your engineering department, you're in trouble