[cstavaru]

First move: fire the head of design and start returning BMW to proper, good looking designs instead of the current kitsch designs that denote lack of inspiration.

Then redesign the 7-series to be bolder (and no, a stupid huge grille does not mean bolder !), the 5-series to be way less bland, the 3-series to be smaller and much lighter (maybe copy Alfa Romeo a bit), the 8-series Gran Coupe to not look like a Kia, the X6 to not look like a pitiful mock of the original X6, the i3 to not look like a weak pooping dog.

A lot of work to do for this new CEO !

[FCBayernFTW]

Originally Posted by cstavaru

First move: fire the head of design and start returning BMW to proper, good looking designs instead of the current kitsch designs that denote lack of inspiration.

Then redesign the 7-series to be bolder (and no, a stupid huge grille does not mean bolder !), the 5-series to be way less bland, the 3-series to be smaller and much lighter (maybe copy Alfa Romeo a bit), the 8-series Gran Coupe to not look like a Kia, the X6 to not look like a pitiful mock of the original X6, the i3 to not look like a weak pooping dog.

A lot of work to do for this new CEO !

MaKe BmW gReAt aGaiN!!!

While I may not appreciate BMWs design language on every vehicle, evolution is unstoppable and I dont want to go back to analog.

[440xiGCMsport]

head of production ad new CEO will yield poor pouts just like CEO from accounting backgrounds. You want BMW to have better products than you need CEO to come from either engineering or marketing.
Production and Accounting is only interested in cost cutting and maximizing profits to the brand and product detriment. You see this all the time.

[GGG333]

Originally Posted by cstavaru

First move: fire the head of design and start returning BMW to proper, good looking designs instead of the current kitsch designs that denote lack of inspiration.

Then redesign the 7-series to be bolder (and no, a stupid huge grille does not mean bolder !), the 5-series to be way less bland, the 3-series to be smaller and much lighter (maybe copy Alfa Romeo a bit), the 8-series Gran Coupe to not look like a Kia, the X6 to not look like a pitiful mock of the original X6, the i3 to not look like a weak pooping dog.

A lot of work to do for this new CEO !

Agreed with all the detailed descriptions of the sad pathetic excuse of the line ups but unfortunately it won't happen.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by Laki021

This new guy also doesn't look very charismatic.
Looks like one more boring German guy in his mid 50s.

We will see...

I was thinking the same thing...like, is he made of wood?

[ynguldyn]

And if you expected radical changes from Zipse - nope. BMW is being managed into irrelevance.

https://www.autonews.com/executives/...ld-way-forward

[TemjinX2]

Originally Posted by BigT

Latest statements and Vision M Next concept car show this will be not the case. The M brand will be the M brand and the i brand something else that you probably don't want.
Development Chief Fröhlich sees PHEV as the next step for M cars.
And latest research analysis of the Fraunhofner Institut (something like the German MIT) shows battery vehicles only up to 50kWh useful in terms of efficiency (weight) and production emissions. BEV is best for city and suburban cars but for long range fuel cell (H2) is the future and PHEV more reasonable in the meantime. Allows also a much smoother industrial transition. It's simply yet impossible to build huge batteries for every car of the world. Li-Io isn't the right stuff for that.

well i hope they dont lose touch with the enthusiasts. There's a new generations of ev enthusiasts coming of age in terms of income. Hopefully they make moves to include them or their customer base will start dying off like cadillic, buick and jaguar.

[TemjinX2]

Originally Posted by DML

I happen to enjoy the negotiations, nothing sweeter than driving off in your spanking new auto knowing you won the "process", it's really not difficult.

i'm the same way. i figure for every person that over pays...it allows the dealership to be able to lose money selling cars to me...lol..

but in general most people hate negotiating so i can see the industry slowly turn into more of a amazon style process.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Laki021

I would love to hear by which measures...

BMW and Mercedes are the same size companies, Daimler is a bit bigger (~30%) but that's not important since they run few pretty much independent businesses, they all require their own separate R&D budgets. Tomorrow they can decide to split the company and Mercedes would be by far the largest one of them.

Mercedes does not have any advantage to BMW when it comes to money and how much they can invest.

Riiiiight. Look it up. It's pretty easy. Then, learn.

The only measure that's roughly equal is unit production (2018 figures):
BMW: 2.2 million
Mercedes-Benz: 2.3 million
and, oh, heck, let's throw Audi in there as well:
Audi: 1.8 million

Yet M-B's gross revenue is twice BMWs. Why? Because it's far, far, far larger and far, far, far more diversified than BMW. Let's extrapolate:
BMW Group production (including Rolls-Royce, ///M, Mini, and BMW Motorrad): 2.5 million
Daimler AG production (including M-B and other brands): 3.3 million
VW AG production (including Audi & other brands): 10.8 million

Here's one measure where M-B is far larger: brands. Daimler AG has 15. BMW has four.

Here's another: total worldwide workforce (2018):
BMW Group: 185,000
Daimler AG: 299,000

Basically, BMW is to Mazda what Mercedes is to Honda and VW is to Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi or TMC.

You just don't stop believin'. Meanwhile, most of the rest of us will continue with lives in reality.

[Laki021]

Numbers are clear, you just proved you're wrong.
No matter how many times you repeat that Damler is far far far larger, they will remain two very comparable companies in all measurable terms, especially when it comes to auto industry.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by BMWModel3

Zipse:

Oh behave ‼️

[Mach550]

Rumor has it that Zipse is close friends with Chris Bangle...gonna make a come back! (jk)

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Laki021

Numbers are clear, you just proved you're wrong.
No matter how many times you repeat that Damler is far far far larger, they will remain two very comparable companies in all measurable terms, especially when it comes to auto industry.

Sigh.

Whatever. Maybe they measure things differently in that rarefied Swiss air you breathe ...

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by ynguldyn

And if you expected radical changes from Zipse - nope. BMW is being managed into irrelevance.

https://www.autonews.com/executives/...ld-way-forward

Still, I think it's going to be fun to watch. If BMW does manage to make the shared platform strategy work, they will have done what most analysts in the automotive sector seem to think isn't possible - compete with EVs built on dedicated platforms using adapted legacy ICE platforms.

Although the iX3 and i4 come first, in many ways, the iNEXT will be the first real test because it will be the first CLAR vehicle that, as far as we know right now anyway, will have no ICE counterpart.

MINI also continuing on a similar path, too, by the way.

https://europe.autonews.com/automake...brand-bmw-says

BMW Group does not plan to electrify the current generation of its other Mini models, "but for the next generation, we might still have surprises for you," Eder teased.

...

"We see certainly a significant role for electric in Mini. But there is also going to be a place for our John Cooper Works because there is serious customer demand there," he said. "So, we will also have some really exciting combustion engines for the Mini brand."

[ChrisM4]

I'm a little tired of automakers trying to push this pure EV agenda. There are too many systemic barriers to wide adoption...period. (Lack of charging stations, required charging time, end to end lifecycle environmental impacts, higher purchase costs etc)

Hybrids are a different story, it alleviates many of the main challenges of a charging network and long recharging times. (You can fill it anywhere quickly and still get ~3.8L/100km in the top models)

I wish the new CEO luck, first order of business should be to fire whoever is in charge of these horrific kidney designs...

[TemjinX2]

BMW isn't big enough to make a big push in ev. They'll just make ev's from exisiting models to meet government comittments and regulations. They'll probably make the full switch once solid state batteries become applicable.

Then your entire carbon fiber chassis just turns into a giant battery.

[Miko M]

https://www.bmwblog.com/2019/08/01/n...ws-future-ceo/