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      06-24-2022, 08:29 AM   #21
CSBM5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 418BUC View Post
Blame the US Authorities for forcing costly homologation issues
Not really. I was told by a high level BMWNA employee, recently, that way back when the G20 was planned, it had been decided that a touring (wagon) version would not be imported by BMWNA. He stated that decision resulted in a design path that didn't include any accommodation normally done for NA import, and to go back "now" would be prohibitively expensive.

While I appreciate this individual going into a lengthy "reason", with a background ages ago in product development at a large corporation, I actually found it a bit hard to fathom. If it was my organization, I would have never allowed the elimination of the option of a North American version at the outset of a development program. Plans change, the future is unknowable, etc, so you simply don't eliminate the flexibility of a platform to potentially accommodate the largest BMW market.

Perhaps the division executive was under such cost pressure measurements that it "made sense" to go that route...that would be the most likely reason. Save a tiny fraction of your total development costs (i.e. not "making" an NA version per se, just maintaining design flexibility to easily accommodate a change in plans in the future). Still, higher up the management structure, decisions like this one need some clear long term thought of why it might make sense to add a tiny marginal sum to the development program to maintain reasonable optionality going forward 6-7 years time when you have no real idea how things might change...only guesswork.
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