BMW completely unsatisfied about the U.S. sales of the 5 Series Gran Turismo

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As you probably know, especially if you are an American customer, BMW quitted offering a wagon version of 5 Series in the States and came with the Gran Turismo variant, a model which should have been successfully replace the more familiar wagon version. Unfortunately for the Bavarians, the 5 Series GT registered extremely poor sales, BMW North America CEO, Jim O’Donnell, sharing the same opinion with us.

According to O’Donnell, they thought that the new GT will attract the U.S. customers waiting for the wagon variant and determine them to get the hatchback model. Instead, this not happened and the customers turned their attention to the similar models in the range of German rivals.

Therefore, BMW managed to sell only 2,848 units in 2010 while the initial plans were to manufacture at least 4,000 units a year for the American market. Moreover, the poor sales continued this year too, only 720 units being sold since the start of 2011, making the initial annual target just a bold assumption. When BMW announced that the 5 Series wagon will not be available in the U.S., a lot of fans showed their disappointment and asked BMW to think again on this.

Of course, after O’Donnell claimed that he is truly disappointed of the 5 Series GT’s sales, the first question being if this situation will determine BMW to bring back the much loved wagon version to the United States. He claimed that BMW has no plans to introduce a wagon version of the current 5 Series generation but there are big chances to prepare a comeback when the new generation arrives.

With no hope to see the current BMW 5 Series wagon coming to the States, let’s review the main features of the Gran Turismo variant. As you already know, the main setback of the current BMW 5 Series GT is the rear end which transforms the model into a tall hatchback that did not managed to impress the customers.

Under the bonnet, BMW 535i GT features a 300-horsepower engine, all the power being sent to the rear wheels. This version is priced at $56,875 while for extra $10,000 you get the 550i xDrive GT with 400 horses under the hood and the all-wheel drive system. The official debut of the 5 Series GT took place at the Frankfurt Auto Show in December 2009, and mainly in the U.S., the former 7 Series owners were attracted by the 5 Series GT, not exactly as the Bavarians hoped, indeed.

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Rikk

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