BMW will launch a slew of new products as part of its biggest offensive to date, according to a new report from Automotive News. In total, it will introduce 40 new or refreshed vehicles to help it catch up to rival Mercedes-Benz who recently overtook BMW in sales.
Two of the vehicles that will be part of BMW’s product offensive will be the X7, a full-size three-row crossover that will sit above the X5, and the X2, a small coupe-like crossover that will slot below the X4 and was recently previewed by a concept at the 2016 Paris auto show. BMW CEO Harald Krueger told Automotive News that the company is looking to revive its growth after sales fell behind Mercedes-Benz for the first time in over 10 years and profitably dropped to a new six-year low in 2016. To conserve its resources, Krueger said that BMW will focus on profitability instead of sales figures as it prepares for electric vehicles and autonomous driving tech, both of which will be expensive investments for the automaker.
Last year, BMW spent 5.16 billion euros ($5.6 billion) or 5.5 percent of its revenue on research and development, and it intends to invest even more in the next two years. Krueger says that BMW intends to challenge Mercedes so that BMW will be the strongest brand in the luxury segment while increasing sales volume and revenue by 2020. BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter also told Automotive News that profitably is more important than sales volume. Last year, BMW’s global deliveries went up by 5.2 percent; however, this is less than half Mercedes’ 11 percent growth rate during the same period.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)
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