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Written by:
Autocar staff
http://www.autocar.co.uk
04/18/2008 - 12:14 PM
Greenville, S.C.
Viewed from the front, the X6 oozes malevolent intent that belies the Zen-like calm enjoyed by its occupants. (Autocar photo) » More Photos
When BMW launched the 8-series coupe in late 1989, it was the very embodiment of 1980s innovation and high-tech bombast. But the 8-series had also arrived at a very pivotal moment in recent history. The Berlin Wall had just fallen and Europe was in the middle of one of its periodic environmental panics. In that atmosphere the 8-series seemed particularly out of step with the times.
Indeed, at the press unveiling a BMW boss felt compelled to virtually apologize for the new car. “We realize that this horsepower war cannot go on. It has to be brought to a halt,” he told journalists. The BMW 850i was powered by a 300hp V12 engine.
Fast-forward nearly two decades and the whole world is embroiled in the global warming panic. And no industry is under greater scrutiny than the auto industry. In Europe, massive levies for every car more gas-guzzling than a diesel supermini are on the horizon from the EU. Central London is under threat of a $50-per-day charge for larger-engined vehicles. And on both sides of the Atlantic, the SUV is widely reviled and mocked, especially in urban areas.
It looks like BMW has, once again, picked its moment to launch an imposing, hi-tech mega-coupe. Only this time it’s not going to apologize for the X6.
It’s a gray and rainy day in Greenville, South Carolina. We are just a few miles up the road from Spartanburg, BMW’s sole U.S. factory. Spartanburg is on the verge of a massive $750m investment as it becomes BMW’s global center of SUV production.
Not only is it currently making the X5 and the new X6, but the next-generation X3 will also be transferred here from Austria. It’s easy to see why. The U.S. market is rapidly turning its back on the traditional SUV and turning to the more car-like “crossover.”
BMW is primed to cream off the premium end of this booming sector and expects to be making a quarter
The night before the test drive, we assemble for a brief press conference where BMW bosses tells us that after inventing the Sports Activity Vehicle (the X5), the company has now invented the Sports Activity Coupe (the X6).
"Although it is only two inches lower than the X5 at its highest point, the combination of the heavily sloping roofline and much shallower side glazing makes the X6 look incredibly imposing, even intimidating." (Autocar photo) » More Photos
It’s easy to be cynical when an automotive engineering powerhouse like BMW is reduced to claiming that it has established a niche market within a niche market, with what seemingly amounts to a chop-top X5. Having watched the X6’s development from the first disguised prototypes through to its public unveiling, there has been one question in the Autocar office: “Why?”
BMW’s attempts to answer that question didn’t inspire much more confidence. It summed up the X6 as “coupe-inspired styling and handling meets Sports Activity Vehicle driving position, practicality and safety.”
Yes, says BMW, this is undeniably a niche car, but research shows that “three key buyer profiles exist.”
First, there are buyers “who want the command driving position that a BMW X product provides, but who also aspire to the sporting style of a coupe.”
The second targets are early adopters, like those who bought the first of the “mold-breaking” X5 models. And thirdly there are owners who have had an X5-type car for some years, but whose families have left home. They apparently want a similar vehicle, but one that doesn’t “scream family.”
The marketing-led theory is one thing, though; for the vehicle itself, we’re forced to wait a few more hours. Can the X6 possibly fulfill its brief without appearing too much of a niche model?
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