Chris Bangle defends his designs (NY Times Article)

[kenny]

Heres a clip:

Criticism? He is not shy in shrugging it off.

"I've often told people that the 7 Series, to me, is the first car of the century, in all of its contents and technical aspects and certainly in its presence," he said. "This car is miles apart from anything that came before."

Not everyone can appreciate that. Even some dealers concede the car is not sold from the rear.

"No one falls in love with the trunk," said Greg Dickson, general sales manager at Nick Alexander Imports in Los Angeles.

He added: "Some people say it's ugly. I say, come on, sit in this car for five minutes. You can't see the trunk from the driver's seat."

Check the URL for the full story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/bu...odaysheadlines

[92 Teg-B18A]

I dunno why people say the trunk is ugly I think it looks pretty good myself

[HRD2PLZ]

I think its something that has to grow on me...I've seen a few (I think one of my neighbours just bought a grey one) and I'm not a huge fan of the trunk.

[E36M3]

I think that the new BMW 745i is a fantastic car, and can't wait for the 760i. It is far better dynamically than any of its competitors (including the S55 and S8) and is incredibly luxurious inside.

I think that the previous 7 put BMW into a very strange place, and it did very little for BMWs brand.

The proof of how successful this car has been in capturing its market is the fact that sales of the 7 are up 45% this year.. which is quite remarkable.

I think BMW should be commended for going in its own direction in an age when the new Civic looks like an S Class.

We'll see how it works out for them.

[rage2]

Originally posted by E36M3
The proof of how successful this car has been in capturing its market is the fact that sales of the 7 are up 45% this year.. which is quite remarkable.

I guess you haven't read up on the tricks BMW did to inflate their sales #'s to beat the S-Class's .

[bksze]

Originally posted by rage2


I guess you haven't read up on the tricks BMW did to inflate their sales #'s to beat the S-Class's .

please enlighten us . . . can't just leave us hanging liek that haha . . .

[E36M3]

No.. I had no idea that they would be anywhere *near* the S Class sales figures. I would expected the S Class to trounce the 7 Series sales.

Originally posted by rage2


I guess you haven't read up on the tricks BMW did to inflate their sales #'s to beat the S-Class's .

[GTS Jeff]

hehe sucks to be bangle.

[rage2]

They did 2 things to boost the 7 series sales #'s. First off, all sales to dealers (demos, etc.) were considered sales, even though they're still sitting in dealer lots. Second, they counted all buyback replacements as sales. The last gen 7 series had a LOT of electrical issues, BMW was really nice and replaced cars completely free (they wanna keep the high rollers happy).

They just replaced a lot of faulty last gen 7 series cars to the latest 7 series cars and counted those as sales. This was reported in a recent issue of Roundel (BMW club mag).

Their 1st 3 months of 7 series sales outsold the S-Class by about 10% using these stats. I dunno what the real numbers are though. There were a few dealers that revealed these facts on Roundel and posted on roadfly... basically bitching cuz they had a lot of 7 series sitting in their lots.

[E36M3]

All of this sounds anecdotal at best.. here is some hard data about sales volume:

Units Sold in USA, ranked by September 2002 Sales Volume

September 2002/September 2001/2002 YTD/2001 YTD

BMW 7 Series
1817/1062/16296/11509

Mercedes S CLass
1622/1980/14534/19182

The truth is that Mercedes S Class sales are highly eroding, while BMW Sales are increasing. The most telling figures are the comparisons of 2002 YTD and 2001 YTD fields. Almost exactly the same number of of additional 7 Series have been sold as S Classes have declined.. which seems to indicate BMW Is taking away Mercedes Customers.

These stats are from Automotive Information Center, and you can see for yourself at:

http://www.autosite.com/editoria/asmr/svsedan.asp

These numbers are derived from new vehicle registrations, so vehicle replacements may figure into these numbers, but dealer registrations (demo vehicles for example) do not.

Originally posted by rage2
Their 1st 3 months of 7 series sales outsold the S-Class by about 10% using these stats. I dunno what the real numbers are though. There were a few dealers that revealed these facts on Roundel and posted on roadfly... basically bitching cuz they had a lot of 7 series sitting in their lots. [/B]

[RiceCake]

Hmm.. Got to sit and fiddle around with the insides of the new 7 series and gotta say I love the new look of the 7 series, although the back is still something that is growing on me.

[Weapon_R]

I think it looks really nice...all of it.

[Mikko]

I suspect strongly that we form our taste on what looks good and bad depending on ads, what we feel for the vehicle, image building etc.. and as such, things grown on us. I'm positive that in a while, people will think the 7 series is beautiful unless it's tainted by scandals.

[ninjak84]

I told my father once I graduated University, I would buy him his dream car: a 740i.
He told me it had better not be of the newer body style.

[Mikko]

NinjaK84 - Just watch - If he changes his mind later, it would support my theory

[three.eighteen.]

i saw something that disturbed me just earlier, i read on some info on the z4 and the side indicators are behind the bmw logo and flash behind it...that sounds and i think looks facking gay, thats nots innovative design its "hey lets light up the bmw emblem for everyone to see" and for the record i think new 7s are alright looking but all that technogarbage takes away from the car, and im still waiting for the z4 to grow on me...bangle = dumbass

[buh_buh]

I took another look at the new 7 series, and its not the rear the bothers me, its the front end.
I think the front just looks nasty.

[szw]

I find all the new-design cars have taken time to 'grow on me' while most of the older designs were nice from the start. For example the cadillac CTS, 350Z-infinity g35, even the RSX.

Can't really compare them though. I like both.