BMW is one of the world's most established automobile manufacturers. It may be an intriguing topic why and how a brand, which always prioritizes sportiness and driving dynamics in its models, decided to make an SUV. The first member of the X series, which was born with BMW's decision to produce an SUV, is the X5, which, as we all know, is very popular in our country. So what lies behind the production and sale of the X5?
When the sales figures of BMW, which has many automobile brands nowadays, are examined, it is seen that cars with SUV body type have reached very serious sales figures. Many years ago, BMW predicted that people's preferences when buying cars would change. However, the R&D work required to produce an SUV from scratch, including infrastructure and parts, turned into a very costly and time-consuming task.
Wanting to catch people's interest in SUVs as soon as possible, BMW took a very smart step and purchased Land Rover, a British brand, in 1994. At that time, the Land Rover company was going through very difficult times commercially. However, this situation made Land Rover a perfect fit. In the first place, BMW did not want to make a profit from Land Rover, but wanted to benefit from its experience with SUVs.
Although BMW acquired a serious SUV experience by purchasing Land Rover, it took exactly 5 years to introduce its first SUV model, the X5. The legendary X5, which opened the door to an incredible world for BMW, was first unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in 1999.
Even when making the X5, its first SUV model, BMW did not give up on its passion to create a car that prioritizes sportiness and driving dynamics. Although the X5 had a 4-wheel drive system, it did not send equal power to all wheels; it could still reflect the BMW character by sending 62 percent of the power to the rear wheels.
After its debut in Detroit, the X5 reached a sales figure of 25 thousand units in the United States in 2000. This figure seemed quite good for a car that had just entered the market. The reason behind this success was that the X5 had a majestic and muscular appearance, just the way Americans loved it.
Although Americans loved the X5 because it was big and imposing, they began to find it obsolete after a while. In fact, under its high ground clearance and powerful appearance, the X5 was a city car, and Americans who wanted to go off-road with it were not satisfied with its performance.
Taking all these criticisms into consideration, BMW confronted the Americans with such a move that this time it managed to hit them right in the heart. In 2022, BMW put the 4.6-liter V8 engine in the X5. Americans, who love everything bigger, also loved this X5 with a larger engine. With this move, BMW managed to quadruple its sales figures.
In fact, BMW didn't pull a rabbit out of its hat. He made a very smart move and bought Land Rover. It developed the X5 on top of the L322 model, known as Range Rover, which was already in its product range. The Land Rover Range Rover model and the BMW X5 model are almost siblings.
With this move, BMW has now become one of the most preferred SUV manufacturers in the world. The X series has grown so much that there are almost no numbers left next to the letter X.
Comments powered by CComment