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BMW looking to slash slow-selling model lines – report

BMW will stop producing a raft of low-volume model lines through the early 2020s in search of higher profits, according to new reports from North America.


Along with its rivals at Mercedes-Benz and Audi, BMW has spent the past decade exploring niches. Four-door coupes, front-drive people movers, and wagon-meets-coupe Gran Turismo models have all been spun off existing model lines, but their days could be numbered.

A report in Automobile suggests the company is battling to make money on cars priced below €40,000 ($65,000) in Europe and the USA. The three-door 1 Series, 3 Series GT and 2 Series Gran Tourer have already been axed, but the body count is expected to rise through the early 2020s.

In the crosshairs when they reach the end of their current model life? The 2 Series Convertible, two-door 8 Series variants, non-LWB 7 Series, and the next-generation Z4. The coupe-styled X2 SUV is also reportedly on borrowed time.

That's not to say BMW will stop developing new nameplates. According to the report, engineers in Munich are readying an X8 available only in M Performance and X8 M guises. Expect to see a sportier, more coupe-like exterior than the X7, too.

In Australia, the best-selling BMW year-to-date is the X3 (2530 sales), followed by the X5 (1792 sales). The company is sitting on 12,387 sales to the end of June, down four per cent on the same time in 2018.

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