Awhile back, we heard rumors of BMW contemplating the idea of a convertible SUV. Just that idea alone sent enthusiasts into a frenzy, as convertible SUVs are some of the most enthusiast-hated sorts of cars on the market. They’re bad at being convertibles and they’re bad at being SUVs. So they serve no other purpose that to attract attention, except they don’t look good either. However, there’s a market for them and BMW might now want a piece of it.
“It’s a really interesting topic,” Ralph Mahler, BMW’s director of product planning and strategy, said to Digital Trends about the prospect of such a car. “All these kinds of questions we have asked ourselves in the past. Whether or not there is a possibility, whether or not there is a market. You see the lineup at the moment. We don’t have one but nevertheless I think it’s still an interesting question,”
The biggest reason to think BMW might jump into this segment hails from England and it’s called the Range Rover Evoque. Leave it to Range Rover to actually make a drop-top crossover actually look good because the Evoque Convertible, as painful as it is to admit, is actually an attractive car. More than that, though, it’s a car that customers like and it garners quite a bit of brand recognition. Considering how successful the Evoque is, BMW would be crazy to not at least consider making a competitor to each of its model variants.
Currently, BMW does have an Evoque competitor, the X2. So if the Bavarians were to enter this small niche market, it would likely be with a BMW X2 Convertible. To be honest, it actually has the styling to work, sans roof. Its funky styling and fun driving dynamics would actually work well with a drop-top body style.
Nothing is set in stone and BMW has not officially announced even the intention to develop such a thing but it’s certainly being considered. And it’s hard to fault BMW, even if enthusiasts do hate convertible SUVs, as it sort of makes sense.
[Source: Digital Trends]
