Quote:
Originally Posted by 5against8
Scott keeps saying there will also be a "new 6" other than the 6GT. I really hope so.
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True, and I've seen plenty of discussion about it, but it certainly isn't very well defined at this point. Add to that the confusion about which spy shots are the 8 and which are the 6 and it is anyone's guess as to how it plays out.
The other thing is, with the size of the luxury coupe market shrinking slowly but surely, these new products seem strangely ill timed. Its marketing gymnastics to keep them from overlapping too much with each other.
Mercedes for example has a bit of challenge in this area right now. They just launched a new E Class coupe and convertible. This, after they began offering a C Class coupe and convertible for the first time ever last year as well. So now you can get C, E, and S in all four major form factors - sedan, estate, coupe, convertible (excepting an S Class Estate). Great.
But, wait a minute. There are no V8 powered AMG models planned for this new E class coupe and convertible even though you can get the lower C class spec'd that way. In fact, there won't even be E43 models. Only an E400 for now. So you have this bizarre situation where you can get the sedan in AMG form with either a 390hp V6 or 620hp V8 while the coupe/convertible top out with the 330hp V6. Heck, even the wagon can be had with the V8. Why? Presumably because they don't want the E coupe/convertible to eat the S coupe/convertible sales (or get eaten
by C coupe/convertible sales). Apparently, the market can handle the sedan overlap but that's not the case for the two-door models. Ok, fair enough. But then why bother with the two-door E's to begin with? Tiny market it would seem, no?
Will BMW be in the same spot? Too early to tell. It all seems a bit fragile though.