Quote:
Originally Posted by BmwE39Fan
I don't really know about these x4's. Don't get me wrong, I live BMW, but this x4 is a bit odd to me. kinda like a smaller x6 it is, I guess. It seems like BMW are building cars, like always, to accommodate to all different people, and that's fine. But in my option, its not my type of car. But hey, what's BMW got to loose?
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Not that much, is the answer. What we're seeing is platform design at its best from BMW.
They are able to invest in a limited set of chassis designs, transmissions, engines, and other key parts, then mix them around with varying sheet metal to create lots of different cars to appeal to narrow target buyer groups.
This is oversimplifying, but the X4 is essentially new sheet metal on the X3, just as the X6 was to the X5. All of the F3X variants are similar. Apparently, the 5, 6, and 7 series share a lot of platform now. Doing it this way, BMW can bring new models to market with far lower development costs per model than it used to be for them when they marketed a 3, 5, and 7 series, all on different platforms. All about market share and the cheapest way to capture it.