BMW Expects SUV Growth to Continue Long Into the Future

[bluestreak56]

Stolen from the X4 Club, I found this interesting..



BMW expects SUV sales to rise to a 40% share of the brand's total sales volume in 2016. In 2015, BMW SUV sales made up 34% of the total volume. So there is growth, and BMW believes that growth is going to continue into 2016, and long after that. If 2016 is 40%, we can only imagine what that share will grow to in 2017, 2018 and beyond.

In 2015 demand exceeded supply in the first nine months of last year. With the X1 being released, that issue should only get worse. To address this problem, BMW is investing in the expansion of its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. That expansion will increase production over 30% to 450,000 units per year.

In addition to this plant expansion, BMW will be building its X7 SUV in the next few years.

BMW is really going all in with its SUVs. And that is because it believes society is going all in for SUVs.

Bring on the SUVs BMW.

X Marks the Spot for BMW, Who Expects a Significant Increase in SUV Demand in 2016

 

[AlpinaRoadsterS]

....
BMW expects SUV sales to rise to a 40% share of the brand's total sales volume in 2016. In 2015, BMW SUV sales made up 34% of the total volume. So there is growth, and BMW believes that growth is going to continue into 2016, and long after that. If 2016 is 40%, we can only imagine what that share will grow to in 2017, 2018 and beyond....

These figures reflect only the US market - just my 2 cents

 

[CornishRob]

i think they will continue.

All the manufacturers seem to bringing out small SUV type vehicles. Even Land Rover are going down the SUV route as well as the traditional 4x4 route. The Discovery Sport, Evoque etc.

I hope the new defender is still a proper 4x4 and not a wet SUV type.

My next vehicle will hopefully be a Discovery 4, so i guess I'm swapping from a sports car to a 4x4/SUV type! Shame on me!!!!!

 

[ben g]

You only have to talk to the general public to know the consensus is that SUV's are safer and they prefer the high driving position.

It'll definitely continue to grow, though whether they'll end up replacing saloon's is anyones guess.

 

[DumfriesDik]

You only have to talk to the general public to know the consensus is that SUV's are safer

A lot of smaller cars have good NCAP ratings as well. 5th gear have done lots of tests and its not always the big cars that come out best (Volvo v. Renault Modus). I think though that the larger front end on an SUV may well be better for the pedestrian if they get hit.

[youtube]qBDyeWofcLY[/youtube]

 

[gwatson]

Is that xdrivers.co.uk? (or is there another x4 forum?)

Anyway... I'd never considered a SUV until my wife got her X3 over a year ago and we moved out to the sticks. Rightly or wrongly, I'm much happier her driving the kids around in the X3 compared to her Mazda 3. She loves the driving position too and would never convert back.

Also, on our the commute, there are places I can overtake in the 2.0 diesel and that I can't in my Z4M, all down to visibility. When I change my 5 series (F11) I will definitely consider a SUV. I love the current X5, but not sure it's me, nice X3/4 would do nicely, heck even a SQ5 or the new Jag F Pace once depreciation does its thing.

All that said, if I was only to have one car it would never be a SUV, I'd still need to have a car that is enjoyable to push on when in the mood.

 

[slick]

Is that xdrivers.co.uk? (or is there another x4 forum?)



All that said, if I was only to have one car it would never be a SUV, I'd still need to have a car that is enjoyable to push on when in the mood.

With 320 BHP my X5 is fun to surprise a few "performance " cars with

 

[mr wilks]

Not really a big surprise that BMW expect a rise in % sales of suv's within their own market is it :?
Its quite obvious that the last 12 months has seen them offer more suv based models .
Ive had a few suv's , yes they have benefits but i quickly lost passion with the feel of driving "on" them as opposed to "in" them they are for wafting along in a cocoon of maybe misconceived safety & dare i say its hard at times not to feel aloof over those poor folks closer to the ground
In reflection they offered very little driver enjoyment & pi33poor value per mile but the upside was good vision (especially on wet motorways ) & especially with a Touareg i had the feeling we could get anywhere in any conditions :driving: so not really the same as BMW latest softroaders :wink:

 

[WLH]

I would say that nearly 50% of the cars on the road in the area of the US where I live are already SUV and I see no end to the trend.

 

[bluestreak56]

Is that xdrivers.co.uk? (or is there another x4 forum?)

No I posted it there, stole it from the X4Club forum..

 

[John002]

i think they will continue.

All the manufacturers seem to bringing out small SUV type vehicles. Even Land Rover are going down the SUV route as well as the traditional 4x4 route. The Discovery Sport, Evoque etc.

I hope the new defender is still a proper 4x4 and not a wet SUV type.

My next vehicle will hopefully be a Discovery 4, so i guess I'm swapping from a sports car to a 4x4/SUV type! Shame on me!!!!!

Could be the new defender??? It looks good

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/Land-Rover-Defender-replacement.jpg

 

[jimmybell]

If it's true - it's a shame really. I'm already bored of all brands just taking their existing lineup and raising the rideheight and calling it a new model.

90% of these new models look butt-ugly, compromise on handling, add weight and generally don't perform as well as their saloon/estate equivalents. Equally having manufactuers focus on building 5001 models to suit every possible combination of taste surely reduces the amount of specific R&D for a model - thus producing lesser quality cars all round. BMW seems particularly guilty of this - a product of their success in the naughties no doubt.

I actually made a joke on one z4-forum thread recently bolting random words together to describe some sort of <they'll probably make this in the future> car in the BMW range - turns out they've already made the BMW 2 Series Active Gran Tourer xDrive Hybrid Coupe or whatever it was i came up with.

EDIT: some 2 series pics... lol - there are going to be enough 2 series derivatives to cause a major financial crash .. or at least a CDO spin off a seperate BMW2 brand!

 

[jimmybell]

oh.. and here's a 2 series Gran Coupe too in case you wanted it.

http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/07/06/is-bmw-testing-a-2-series-gran-coupe/

BMW's 2 series range is about to dwarf JLR

 

[aquazi]

In the US probably... They are already used to large cars which go fast straight so a SUV is just an rvolution of that.

In the UK with the exception of chelsea tractors and such i doubt they will replace saloons... I only have to look at my work car park... 90% are company cars... Out of 100 cars (which i can see out of the window) 10 could be classed as an SUV... Most are saloons, then hatchbacks and then estates ( and maybe 80% are German!)

 

[CornishRob]

i think they will continue.

All the manufacturers seem to bringing out small SUV type vehicles. Even Land Rover are going down the SUV route as well as the traditional 4x4 route. The Discovery Sport, Evoque etc.

I hope the new defender is still a proper 4x4 and not a wet SUV type.

My next vehicle will hopefully be a Discovery 4, so i guess I'm swapping from a sports car to a 4x4/SUV type! Shame on me!!!!!

Could be the new defender??? It looks good

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/Land-Rover-Defender-replacement.jpg

That actually looks fairly decent compared to some of the images I've seen.

I wonder what the Discovery 5 will be like. I think fairly different to the 3/4

 

[John002]

i think they will continue.

All the manufacturers seem to bringing out small SUV type vehicles. Even Land Rover are going down the SUV route as well as the traditional 4x4 route. The Discovery Sport, Evoque etc.

I hope the new defender is still a proper 4x4 and not a wet SUV type.

My next vehicle will hopefully be a Discovery 4, so i guess I'm swapping from a sports car to a 4x4/SUV type! Shame on me!!!!!

Could be the new defender??? It looks good

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/Land-Rover-Defender-replacement.jpg

That actually looks fairly decent compared to some of the images I've seen.

I wonder what the Discovery 5 will be like. I think fairly different to the 3/4

Get the Discovery 4, mates had zero problems with his and I doubt he maintains it at all. I'm tempted myself but only have disco 3 money and they seem riddled with all kinds of expensive problems.

New one might bring prices down when it arrives? Bet it costs a fortune

 

[CornishRob]

Could be the new defender??? It looks good

http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/Land-Rover-Defender-replacement.jpg

That actually looks fairly decent compared to some of the images I've seen.

I wonder what the Discovery 5 will be like. I think fairly different to the 3/4

Get the Discovery 4, mates had zero problems with his and I doubt he maintains it at all. I'm tempted myself but only have disco 3 money and they seem riddled with all kinds of expensive problems.

New one might bring prices down when it arrives? Bet it costs a fortune

Yes I heard the 3 is very expensive to maintain. I'm thinking early Disco 4 with the 6 Speed, or possibly wait a bit and try and get the 8 speed, but another 5k in price I think.

I would be basically getting it and not changing cars again for a while unless I had loads of problems. Aim to keep it until around 200k if it was reliable.

It's a hard decision on when to sell my Z4 and get a Disco. Ideally sell the Z4 around spring time, which is also when 4x4s are less in demand, but the arrival of the D5 in a year or so time could hit depreciation a fair bit. I don't really want to wait another year, so might just have to take a hit.

 

[John002]

That actually looks fairly decent compared to some of the images I've seen.

I wonder what the Discovery 5 will be like. I think fairly different to the 3/4

Get the Discovery 4, mates had zero problems with his and I doubt he maintains it at all. I'm tempted myself but only have disco 3 money and they seem riddled with all kinds of expensive problems.

New one might bring prices down when it arrives? Bet it costs a fortune

Yes I heard the 3 is very expensive to maintain. I'm thinking early Disco 4 with the 6 Speed, or possibly wait a bit and try and get the 8 speed, but another 5k in price I think.

I would be basically getting it and not changing cars again for a while unless I had loads of problems. Aim to keep it until around 200k if it was reliable.

It's a hard decision on when to sell my Z4 and get a Disco. Ideally sell the Z4 around spring time, which is also when 4x4s are less in demand, but the arrival of the D5 in a year or so time could hit depreciation a fair bit. I don't really want to wait another year, so might just have to take a hit.

Tough call, you'll miss the zed but there are other things to try. The zed not depreciating much helps. I'm constantly thinking of other purchases, this week its an Triumph 955i I spotted today at M&S motorcycles lol. Got to tick those boxes though, and owning a discovery is one of them...eventually.

 

[TitanTim]

You definitely see more SUV/crossover vehicles on the road to say 2 years ago but I can't grasp the point of them over a normal car? To me they're just another fashion fad. I briefly thought of an X1 as a replacement but I know I would get bored of it after a day. Will be sticking to another M135i a proper car.

Tim.

 

[CornishRob]

Get the Discovery 4, mates had zero problems with his and I doubt he maintains it at all. I'm tempted myself but only have disco 3 money and they seem riddled with all kinds of expensive problems.

New one might bring prices down when it arrives? Bet it costs a fortune

Yes I heard the 3 is very expensive to maintain. I'm thinking early Disco 4 with the 6 Speed, or possibly wait a bit and try and get the 8 speed, but another 5k in price I think.

I would be basically getting it and not changing cars again for a while unless I had loads of problems. Aim to keep it until around 200k if it was reliable.

It's a hard decision on when to sell my Z4 and get a Disco. Ideally sell the Z4 around spring time, which is also when 4x4s are less in demand, but the arrival of the D5 in a year or so time could hit depreciation a fair bit. I don't really want to wait another year, so might just have to take a hit.

Tough call, you'll miss the zed but there are other things to try. The zed not depreciating much helps. I'm constantly thinking of other purchases, this week its an Triumph 955i I spotted today at M&S motorcycles lol. Got to tick those boxes though, and owning a discovery is one of them...eventually.

Yes it's definitely on the list. Just trying to decide if I should be sensible or not. Got a large mortgage to pay off as well!