![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:05 • Filed to: bmw, 3 GT, axed | ![]() | ![]() |
https://www.motoring.com.au/bmw-3-series-gt-axed-114973/
it won’t be missed
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:10 |
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‘ The BMW exec concluded by saying that there are already seven or eight 3 and 4 Series derivatives and that “you can do 10 derivatives but you will not sell more.”’
No shit, Sherlock? Likewise to those stupid X2, X4, X6.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:13 |
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Good, it was ugly anyway.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:15 |
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Good, now let’s focus on getting this axed too.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:17 |
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So much this. I need to know where the diminishing returns set in. The lineup of 3/5/7 and X3/X5 was most likely PLENTY. From there, you just create trimlines and special editions of each, catering to the subgroups without designing a whole new car.
You do NOT need to pretend to compete with everything the competition does, inventing segments along the way. We all end up paying for those, but nobody likes to talk about that.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:29 |
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They could have learned that by looking at 80s GM. “Let’s make the same car in 7 brands!”
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:34 |
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My dad has one it is really useful, he bought it because the big 6 cylinder wasn’t available in the wagon and he hates SUVs but needs to haul stuff.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:35 |
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3/5/7 and X3/X5 was most likely PLENTY.
Well with the 3er as big as a 5er 10 years back I don’t mind the 1er in the lineup. And I don’t mind the Gran Coupes but they’re just a different body style. I’ve always maintained the 4GC should be a 3ti.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 09:37 |
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Full disclosure: I still can’t make sense of the 3/4.
Your point is a good one about the size bloat, though. IMHO that shouldn’t happen, but it has. There was no need for the 7 to grow, nor for the other two to follow suit. But it’s what everyone is doing. Allegedly it’s because they want the car to “grow with you” (that’s the most common reason given) so if you drove a 3-series 20 years ago, you still feel comfy in the 3.
IMHO, you should just buy a 5. Or at least that was the old mantra -- for you to grow into other cars over time.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 10:06 |
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‘Ca
dillac product director John Howell has a picture of the Cimarron on his office wall with a caption that reads, “Lest we forget.”’
We're getting dangerously close with UKL.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 10:11 |
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Sad thing is that one will sell well because its a “cheaper” “BMW”.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 10:31 |
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model bloat is purely for marketing. “the new Accord has 3 more inches of leg room than the previous model, and 2 more than Camry”
then 2 generations down the Accord, and C amry are bigger than the (what was once the) RL and Avalon were. And then the XB and Fit have to be added to fill the spot onec filled by th Civic. And then the XB dies, and the Fit slowly gets replaced by a crossover version of itself
![]() 10/04/2018 at 10:33 |
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but Cadillac NEEDED a Chrysler competitor and all the Chryslers were small and FWD so why couldn’t Cadillac do it? makes perfect sense to lower your brands image in order to completely dominate the market.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 10:40 |
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Good. Now give us an M2 GC.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 11:33 |
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That is possibly the best picture of a 3-series GT ever. Loiks damn good there However, I remember what they actually look like and good riddance! Now bring over the damn 340i wagon!
![]() 10/04/2018 at 15:11 |
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The X6 seems to have stumbled on something people actually want, whether or not we think it’s rational . Hence Mercedes spawning the GLC/GLE “ coupes.” The initial expansion of the BMW range seemed to have been a concerted strategy of “throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.” The Mini range exploded a few years back too: there was the Coupe, coupe convertible (in addition to the regular convertible), Countryman, Countryman 2-door (which I secretly love).... a lot of them didn’t go into the second generation. The Countryman was seemingly the only one worth keeping.
![]() 10/04/2018 at 15:17 |
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I choose to remember the GT’s as a good-faith effort to offer a better alternative to crossovers. It didn’t help that they weren’t pretty, but if they were, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. If it doesn’t have plastic cladding and “crossover” marketing, nobo dy wants it.