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      07-23-2010, 09:19 AM   #1
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Exclamation It's Official: 6-series Gran Coupe Headed for Production

SEE ALSO: BMW Concept Gran Coupe Info/Media Official Thread


This was previously acknowledged by BMW insider Scott 26 and I know there's already a thread for the Welt event earlier this week (and that BMW has to have some sort of sedan in a coupe's body on the way to stay competitive,) but I though it warranted a separate posting when I saw a story that said Klaus Draeger confirmed the Gran Coupe for production during the Welt event (copied below).


Post by Scott26: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=378322 and from his response in this thread:
Quote:
The BMW Gran Coupe has been approved for production, the frameless windows will remain but the car still maintains a B-Pillar for Dynamic finesse.

The BMW Gran Coupe will be marketed as the... BMW 6er Gran Coupe.
Gran Coupe brings a new segment to BMW's portfolio and will spread to include other BMW models in the Future, just like Gran Turismo will.

This will bring a portfolio of three variants to the 6er , Coupe , Gran Coupe and Cabrio.

A Shooting Brake model to accompany the Gran Coupe has been designed and built for design and market evaluation.

The BMW Concept Gran Coupe will make it's European public debut later this year at the Paris Auto Show incidentally alongside another BMW Concept Car that will debut @ Paris.

The visual details of the front and rear of the Gran Coupe will be carried over to the new 6er Coupe.


More details:
  • Launch will be in Summer 2012, suggesting either a Paris 2012 Debut (But Beijing 2012 is not ruled out either)
  • On sale date will be late 2012.
  • Manufactured alongside 6er @ Dingolfling.
  • Design is shared with the new 6er
  • Geneva is out because the F30 3er Sedan and M6 Coupe will debut @ Geneva. The F31 will debut @ Leipzig.
  • Gran Coupe will be available with two Diesels and 2 Petrols. Active Hybrid variant also coming as is the M Gran Coupe.
  • Gran Coupe is lower than the 3,5 and 7 Sedans.
If you look at the sillouhette above the Gran Coupe you can see how they have joined up the raised shoulder-line. It is like this on the new 6er too, it used to be cut over the wheel arch like the Concept CS until Mercedes-Benz brought out the E-Klasse Coupe, although some conspiracy theorists maintain it was altered after Karim Habib departed for Mercedes-Benz since it was intially his vision on the Concept CS.






And now from http://www.motobullet.com/news.php?id=10341
Quote:
BMW greenlights Gran Coupe
Posted 2010/07/23 @ 07:00 AM
By Spencer Woods


It is not like BMW fans didn't see this one coming. BMW is giving the greenlight to a 6-Series based four-door called the Gran Coupe that was first shown in Beijing back in April.

We are fighting our urges to call this a sedan. After all four doors means it is a sedan, right?...well not anymore. Now German car companies are building four-door cars, but because of their swooping coupe-like lines, they don't dare call these vehicles "sedans". Mercedes started the craze with the CLS, and the VW Group has three in its lineup: Volkswagen CC, Audi A7 (later this year), and Porsche Panamera (they even flirted with giving Lamborghini one with the Estoque until the market bottomed out.)

BMW can't risk its customers migrating to another brand just because their sedan (oops, we used the "S" word) has sleeker lines. So earlier this week at its Design Night press event in Munich, BMW's design chief, Klaus Draeger confirmed it will add a second set of doors to the next 6-Series coupe.

There's only one problem, doesn't BMW have a long-established four-door around this size? (HINT: it's called the 5-Series) BMW says that the roofline on the 6 Gran Coupe is about four inches lower, and the tailgate area on the Gran Coupe is much smaller than a 5-Series. Just like the 5-Series, the Gran Coupe has a hybrid version rumored to be in the works.

BMW says don't expect the Gran Coupe to hit the market until at least 2012.

Pics /video from the Welt premiere of the Concept Gran Coupe which started yesterday:







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