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What does anyone think of BMW's product planning recently?  With the X6 and now this PAS *thing* coming soon, it seems like they're trying to invent their own segments.  Then they've got the 1-series, trying to enter smaller-car markets... but that's been a flop too.

Should they be applauded or ridiculed? The X6 hasn't done so hot, and the 1-series even worse.  I don't see the PAS doing much better than the X6... perhaps if it's a little more practical it'll do alright?  

i agree with you entirely...same thing with the GINA (or whatever its called) its problably not even going to come out..i think their designers are just getting bored and running out of things to do. In my opinion the X6 is the ugliest and most impractical thing on the road today. It almost looks like something that came out of a science fiction movie  

Is the 1-series really a flop? I haven't studied the sales numbers. The 1 is still expensive and is really only a slightly smaller 3-series but it is fun. Sure, we'd all love a back to basics, 2002-style BMW but at least the company is spreading the model lineup. As for the X6 and "PAS", I'm with you and I don't like them.  

Well, in terms of sales I think it's a flop - only 11,097 sold.  Everything else in the lineup has sold more except the Z4 (5,798) and the X6 (4,116).  

It depends on how many BMW planned to sell in the States. If the demand is super high in Europe, they will funnel more into that market. With the U.S. dollar still quite weak against the Euro (though less than for most of 2008), BMW makes far more money on the 1-series across the pond.  

Yeah, I know they sell two or three times more in Europe than they do in the U.S., but I haven't seen any numbers for individual nameplates in Europe.

I guess I never thought about how successful these may be in other markets - I've been so concerned with U.S. sales I didn't think to consider European numbers.  

I was once told by a German VW exec that the company loses money on every GTI they sell in America and makes a very healthy profit and every one they sell in Europe. Mind you, that was when the Euro was around 1.6 to the U.S. dollar. It's dialed back a bit.