BMW Vision gets green light Over the past decade, BMW has had a rather tumultuous time of it. Ex Chief of Design Chris Bangle’s “flame surfacing” spooned away at the designs for the last decade, creating probably the most radical and polarizing image shift the brand had experienced in its entire history, much to the derision, and division, of its fans and opponents alike. While many people were outraged and appalled at the nouveau-art direction the German staple seemed to have adopted, and BMW were quick (relatively speaking) to tone things down, Mr. Bangle had succeeded in putting BMW into a completely different mindset.
Up to this point, the company perhaps hadn’t really marketed itself as daring or overly adventurous in its design approach, especially regarding its finished products which ultimately ended up on global roads by the thousands. The bulbous 7-series and swoopy Z4 cues from Bangle’s brush had swept away these misconceptions as deftly as it carved lines in the entire range it put on sale. So, while the BMW-loving public have recently enjoyed tamer, more modest designs, BMW had put it out there that they weren’t afraid to take risks; to go in different directions, to test still waters and, if need be, create their own niche markets and consumer groups. Let’s not forget that even the X5 was seen as an inexplicable creature upon its release 11 years ago, yet essentially created one of the most hotly contested categories today, namely the luxury/sport crossover SUV people carrier. The X6, defying all market niches and calling itself a SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle), has been with us for 2 years and we are still trying to find the round hole for this (we think gorgeous) square peg. The X1 competes in a saturated class, almost cannibalizing its only-slightly bigger brother, the X3. The X5 still dominates much of the luxury SUV market, while the X6 checks boxes somewhere between the M3 and the X5. And let’s not forget the 1-, 3-, 5-, 6-