If you live in America, you are fully aware of the almost clinical SUV craze. Us ‘Mericans love our SUVs and big crossovers. So much so, in fact, that traditional car customers are jumping up to SUVs without the actual need for the extra size. It’s this desire for SUVs that’s caused BMW to decided to develop the much larger BMW X7.
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“There are people moving from the 3 Series sedan into the X3,” said BMW CEO Harald Krüger at the launch of the X3. “Most of the customers never come back and are loyal to these [SUVs].” In fact, car sales for BMW are down so far this year, while SUV sales are up. “They enjoy the seating position, they enjoy the overview of the traffic, they enjoy the functionality, they enjoy the ride over rough areas,” said Krüger.
What’s interesting is the discord between that customers want and what enthusiasts want. We’d like to think those two are the same, they aren’t. Evidence of that is the BMW X1. American enthusiasts bemoaned the introduction of the new X1, as it’s the first front-wheel drive-based BMW to be sold in the ‘States. However, customers are loving it and it’s selling like crazy. “We were surprised by the success of the X1,” Krüger said. “You normally think in the U.S. of the X1 as small car, but we are selling big numbers of the X1 already.”
But Americans want something bigger. Sales of the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class have consistently been good. “For the U.S. market the new X7 will be very important, because we haven’t had a product in that segment so far,” said Krüger. It is surprising that Mercedes has had a car in that segment for some time but it’s taken BMW until now to do so. Now, though, the BMW X7 will occupy that segment for BMW and will likely be the Bavarian brand’s most popular high-end model.
This will help BMW, as sales of the 7 Series have been underwhelming since its debut. But Americans love them some SUVs, so the X7 will likely boost high-end BMW sales quite a bit. So while BMW hasn’t had a car in this segment until now, it’s coming at the right time.
[Source: Motor1]
There was rumor that in company were debates for sometime. Some sad that X7 won’t fill like real BMW, loose that spirit, that its tooo big for good handling car… Hope they made it right way.
it’s a perception shift, I bet people were saying the same about the X5 at the beginning …
If Cadillac can build an Escalade, why not BMW?
Escalade is a body on frame design which BMW will not replicate because it is inefficiently too heavy.
Good to know, wonder how many buyers do.
BMW and Cadillac are VERY different brands. But if Porsche can build a Cayenne and Bentley can make the Bentayga, then BMW can definitely make an X7.
The Cayenne is not an X7-sized vehicle. Porsche does not offer an X7-sized vehicle as of yet, currently leaving that to the Audi Q7 the Cayenne shares a platform with. The Bentayga, also a Q7 sharer, is not a BMW-priced vehicle. I have zero doubt BMW could build an amazing $300k 7-seater, and they will when the Rolls Royce Cullinan comes out.
That’s not the point. OP said that the X7 won’t be a BMW because it’s too big. If Porsche, mainly known to build small-ish sport cars can build an SUV like the Cayenne, then BMW known for its sport sedans (which are fundamentally less sporty than let’s say 911s) can build something slightly bigger and still maintain a certain character.
Bentley also managed to keep their ultra exclusive GT character to a VW Touareg. Considering that the X5 in not too long will have the size of this X7, i really don’t see the problem.
I don’t have a problem with the X7, either, mostly because people buying something the size of an X7 or GLS don’t care what the Nurburgring time is. If Benz and Audi have vehicles in that segment then BMW should too, and the X7 just needs to drive well, be opulent, and not be hideously ugly to be successful.
You mean the ATS isn’t an M3?!. Oh, yeh. That’s a Tesla.
Cayenne is the almost the same size as X5. Even Q7 will be smaller than X7. What are you talking about??