Cross over models seem to be the popular among car makers these days with Mercedes, BMW and several others introducing their new cross over models. The trend started with BMW with the first generation X6. The car was an odd ball design that didn't quite seem practical in my opinion. Unlike a traditional SUV where the real trunk has a boxy design which is convenient to load luggage or cargo but the design of the SUV is not very sporty looking. Enter the X6 which had a swooping rear roof line and made the car look more sporty and coupe like but at the expense of rear trunk space.
The rear trunk space of the X6 was easily 30% smaller than the X5 and couple that with the swooping roof line it meant that loading tall items a real challenge. Mercedes then thought that they wanted to join the party and introduced their GLC couple and GLE coupe models. Both are similar in look but only difference is the size of the car. Both had swooping roof lines which meant that the rear trunk space would be compromised to some degree.
The question now comes: are the cross overs really practical? I find that the Mercedes GLC and GLE coupes are very odd looking and same goes for the X6. These cars are neither sporty to look like a sports car and it is not practical enough to be as good as a SUV. It is kind of caught in the middle. It is not the best of both worlds, in fact it is a failure to be either one. Some people like it and prefer these cross overs to SUVs because the SUVs are boxy looking and the cross overs have a sleeker shape. The cross overs do offer higher ground clearance compared to normal cars but most of them don't have really good off road ability nor will they be taken off road.
It is unlikely that these car makers will stop making cross overs as one of the best selling models are the SUVs or cars with higher ground clearance. This trend is so strong that Ford have stopped making traditional sedans and focused only on SUVs, trucks and the Mustang. I wonder if any other car maker will follow Ford's footsteps but at the moment it seems unlikely. Toyota, VW, Honda, Nissan and Renault have enough sales volume from normal sedans to justify the continuation of selling sedan models.
Thursday, 31 January 2019
the ever increasing size of BMW's front grille
With each new model of BMW 7 series the front grille gets a little bigger. It is quite ridiculous that this keeps increasing in size. I wonder how much larger will it get in the next 20 years! If one looks back over the last 4 models it is very clear to see the gradual size increase. The car is no doubt evolving forward with the design and features but it is undeniably strange to see the grille grow over each generation.
Some people made memes of the car's front grille that it will grow to ridiculous proportions! I am wondering if BMW realise this or whether this is intentional.
On another note, the BMW interior is looking aged in comparison to Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. The recent updated interior of Mercedes have made it look a lot younger and would definitely appeal to the younger buyers. Audi has always been leading the way with innovative interior designs with the virtual cockpit and the interesting centre console design. BMW seems to be stuck in a time warp and the interior design barely changed since the E60 model. The evolution is ever so slight and despite the new features such as touch screen iDrive and the gesture motion control, the car's interior still looks very early 2000. It does not feel 2019!
A classy or futuristic interior will attract buyers. Porsche had to up their game with their interiors as well and do away with the airplane cockpit style button layout in the centre console and introduce the touch sensitivity buttons that are black in colour. The wider high definition touch screen also make the car look current. I like how the new 992 model utilise a special analog tachometer in the middle of the instrument cluster to bring back the retro feel but yet the other cowls are digital to keep it in the modern era.
The most impressive of all are the new China designed cars. Their cockpit design can give many Japanese and Korean car makers a run for their money. The BYD models and NIO models have cool looking virtual cockpits that display a tonne of information and is customisable to suit the driver's preference. watch out for the upcoming EV models from china. it may surprise some people.
Some people made memes of the car's front grille that it will grow to ridiculous proportions! I am wondering if BMW realise this or whether this is intentional.
On another note, the BMW interior is looking aged in comparison to Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. The recent updated interior of Mercedes have made it look a lot younger and would definitely appeal to the younger buyers. Audi has always been leading the way with innovative interior designs with the virtual cockpit and the interesting centre console design. BMW seems to be stuck in a time warp and the interior design barely changed since the E60 model. The evolution is ever so slight and despite the new features such as touch screen iDrive and the gesture motion control, the car's interior still looks very early 2000. It does not feel 2019!
A classy or futuristic interior will attract buyers. Porsche had to up their game with their interiors as well and do away with the airplane cockpit style button layout in the centre console and introduce the touch sensitivity buttons that are black in colour. The wider high definition touch screen also make the car look current. I like how the new 992 model utilise a special analog tachometer in the middle of the instrument cluster to bring back the retro feel but yet the other cowls are digital to keep it in the modern era.
The most impressive of all are the new China designed cars. Their cockpit design can give many Japanese and Korean car makers a run for their money. The BYD models and NIO models have cool looking virtual cockpits that display a tonne of information and is customisable to suit the driver's preference. watch out for the upcoming EV models from china. it may surprise some people.
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