German Car Zone

Lol

Fresh rumor:

The design bosses favour the Shooting-Brake variant since it has much greater & special presence & charisma than the "regular" 4dr coupe.

As said: otherwise the cars are almost identical inside & outside.

With no details given exact a clue the design elements will be somewhat similar to CS concept, with a profile (coupe) similar to the current one.

Given the fact BMW like to open new segments (X6, 5er GT etc) perhaps 6er GT in shooting brake variant has better chances to be greenlighted that a "regular" 4dr coupe - since this segment is starting to become saturated (CLS, A7, Panamera etc).

I'm so glad BMW decided to go the uglier shooting brake route..good luck

Read more carefully: nothing is decided yet!

Just wait to see latest CLT impression in the lates AutoBild.
MB considers to go shooting-brake as well.

^Well we all know what "in favour" of means when it comes to BMW decision makers.

And yeah MB already showed their vision of the shooting brake style with Fascination concept which i'm not a big fan of too.

Allow me to state the obvious - The world economy is in the toilet, which leaves no room for BMW to embark on experiments with premium-car packaging.

Even in a thriving economy the business case for a "4 door coupe" 6er is tenuous - the niche has rapidly filled to capacity with the debut of the Panamera, and there's lots of redundancy issues with the 5er.

Expect the next 6er to be a premium GT-style coupe and cabrio, that's it.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a concept car at an auto show that's an alternative-reality 6er, like we saw with the 5er hatch - but mark my words, BMW understands that the pond just shrank, and will act accordingly.

I certainly hope so.

This many GT things is getting out of hand.

Thanks for all the info. I must admit, the GT doesn't sound too appealing. Once again, it just comes off as unnecessary.

I agree with Osnabrueck, that it's probably not the best of times to be experimenting. In this case, pushing something onto the public that it hasn't asked for.

The crisis will be over some day ... And the carmaker who won't be ready at that time - offering new, fresh & competitive products will be doomed.

Of course EfficientDynamics & "Project i" are #1 priorities.

But new niche products are still being considered. Especially the ones which will generate high profits. While some with lower profit margin have been canceled or put on ice.

Geez ... In the middle of the crisis BMW are coming out with vehicles like 5er GT, X5 M, X6 M ... Porsche with Panamera ... Aston Martin with Rapide ... Audi with A5 & A7 SportBack ... MB with SLS etc.

OK, those projects were started way before the crisis ... And are just coincidently launched in most akward times possible.


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But the crisis will be over, and the people will still want to drive fancy cars.

So, why eg. canceling the 7er GT in favor of 6er GT. Since 5er/6er platform is much more prfitable already - and another version based on that platform (first one is 5er GT, second one is 6er GT) is much more economicyl & profitable - also due economy of scales.
7er platform is much more low-volume platform - despite 7er + 7erGT + baby RR the sales would only reach 60-70k annually at best. While 5er/6er platform can come close to 280-300k per year at best.

And just like in the 5er case BMW also got some excellent feedback from the (potential) customers: wanting more practical, versatile & comfortable large sports coupe. Something like CLS. But due BMW being a sportier brand they decided to give more emphasis on sportness than on comfort / prestige. Therefore "hidden" rear doors etc. While Shooting Brake shape would give the car even more versatility.

People want crossovers ("hybrid shapes") in all segments ... 2-in-1, 3-in-1, or even all-in-one philosophy is becoming more & more present in automotive segment.

Cars like gadgets: multifunctional purpose. Like a cell phone with camera & multi-media player, GPS device etc instead of several seperate devices.

Mind not all customers need 100% capability of a separate device - perhaps only 30%, or 20% etc. To some it's more important to have all-in-one multi-capable device.

So, some customers want a multi-functional single car - a crossover - instead of two or three separate cars.

Especially premium segment is more tolerant in this respect: accepting more exotic crossovers.

And mind BMW brand is now considered most innovative & avant-garde premium brand - so such crossovers fi well into the new BMW image.

I like the idea of crossovers if implemented correctly, but a "four door shooting brake" sounds dangerously close to a wagon. Even with the rear suicide doors (which I think are a great idea). So here's hoping the final design for 6GT is a fastback shape. 'Cause that one I would be interested in.