Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
I relate to what you are saying about dropping the V10 for the turbo V8, and other factors (such as the heavier chassis shared with the 7 series, perhaps).
But I think to expect any sort of sales decline (and I am not saying you are), would be to place too much importance on what some hard-core enthusiasts clamour for, and miss what really drives the market for these cars. The fact of the matter is that the sharper looks (subjective, yes, but most will agree), the better fuel economy, the better straight line performance, and more refined gearbox, will add up to a successful product.
Remember too, that the economy was down through a big part of the E6x M lineup's lifespan. But even if that was not a factor, I don't think the E6x generation of M cars would stand any chance of racking up a higher sales tally than the the new F1x M lineup.
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Time will certainly tell on this, but I cant see this new model surpassing the e63 M6 in terms of total sales. Im sorry but you have to understand how few of these cars have actually been sold. In the 2008 model year which I believe was the highpoint for sales, there was something like 1100 M6 coupes sold world wide! This is a low volume car to begin with, and the S85 made the car desirable. If you dont believe that people bought the car specifically to own a BMW V10, I would think you are mistaken. It is what gave it the special something that the new engine will never be able to recreate. And with a 20%+ increase in price relative to the models, you bring the car into another segment which much more competition.
You see, in the e63, fully loaded and out the door(incl taxes) you were already over $120K, even in the rought times when you could have negotated $10K off, one still payed well over $100K for the loaded car. And in this realm, it was nearly by itself in that you can get an exclusive car with a V10, no one else in the world had a car speced or priced close to it.
Now bring that to $140K-$150K in the new model, even if you get to the point where you can knock off $10K, you're still in the serious money realm where there are a number of other options for near supercars. This M6 will have alot more competition, and I dont see it winning because I do believe there is a glass ceiling when we're speaking about the BMW purchaser. I dont think a person buying $130K+ cars is necssarily a person that looks towards BMW, a company that also sells $30K cars. I think it has alot to do with status in this realm, and in all reality, only a very very few enthusiasts in the world would ever know that my M6 was so expensive, let alone that the new one would cost perhaps 140K+, and I think that many people that buy cars in this realm do it as status and want people to know the car that they are driving is very expensive.
We shall see
