Quote:
Originally Posted by 135Pats
It looks like a small 5 series, which in turn looks like a small 7 series. I have no doubt the 2 and 4 will follow suit.
BMW has clearly made the conscious decision to go the Mercedes route with styling. The cars all look fine; but some differentiation would be nice. I don't want size to be the only substantive factor.
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All major car manufacturers especially the Germans have followed this "Russian doll" approach for designing their cars, which is understandable since so much money is at stake and a bad selling car can be a threat to the company...
Porsche (and Audi) for example is the biggest culprit making all their designs derivative to the 911. Mercedes still does the Russian Doll design, but have been very successful IMO by making them more "emotional", especially with their gorgeous interiors.
BMW has become much more conservative since the departure of Chris Bangle. And it is understandable for them to continue in this path because they are setting sales records. On the other hand they are more and more in danger of losing their core enthusiasts by becoming a generalistic manufacturer (with their FWD 1 series, their active tourers and GT's). They are walking on a very tight rope right now...
It's kind of ironic that BMW has become the new MB when Mercedes is becoming more and more sports focused with their AMG division and involvement in F1.