BMW took the hint.
The Mercedes-Benz M-Class sport-utility is a whopping success, so much so that Cadillac will venture into the sport-utility field this fall with a dolled up Chevrolet Tahoe and BMW will soon follow.
Henrich Heitman, chairman and chief executive of BMW, told the media at the Detroit Auto Show that the automaker is developing a sports-activity vehicle with the performance of a BMW sports sedan and sport-utility attributes–roominess, cargo capacity and four-wheel-drive capability.
“In keeping with the core values of our brand, this will be a refined, high-performance, fun-to-drive vehicle. It will look and feel like a BMW. It will be the ultimate driving machine within this new segment,” Heitman said.
Heitman said the machine will be a “non-traditional” sport-ute.
A no show: BMW won’t bring the two-seat Z07 concept to the Chicago Auto Show Feb. 7 through 15 in McCormick Place. Reportedly, it’s going to a private dealer show instead.
Stronger showing: Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda, says the automaker missed its guess with the CR-V sport-utility, estimating it would sell about 50,000 in 1997. It sold 70,000. He said the automaker will be able to get “a few more” in 1998, but not many.
Mini-van twist: OK, while Ford, Chevy and Chrysler debate the merits of slide-open doors on their mini-vans, Honda says its 1999 front-wheel-drive mini-van coming out this fall (based on the Accord platform and replacing the Odyssey) will have dual power sliding doors and swivel seats. And its will seat seven. Sales forecast: 60,000 annually.
Says Colliver of Odyssey, the station wagon serving as a van until its mini-van replacement is ready this fall: “It wasn’t competitive with other mini-vans, but it did give us the chance to establish a foothold in that market.”
Though everyone in the world awaits confirmation from Honda that the concept SSM two-seat roadster unveiled on the auto show circuit two years ago will go into production in 1998 to help mark Honda’s 50th anniversary. Colliver still says the final decision has yet to be made.
But he gives himself away when stating that, “We don’t know if it (SSM) will be a Honda or an Acura yet.”
Import fighters: Ron Boltz, Chrysler general manager of large cars, said the LHS and 300M sedans will come out at mid-year as ’99s. Target market is the 40- to 55-year-old for the 300M, 45- to 59-year-old for LHS. Both have only a 3.5-liter, 253-h.p. V-6. The 300M will be shorter than LHS–197.8 inches to 209.7 inches.
“We hope to conquest sales from the upscale Japanese and German luxury cars with these sedans,” Boltz said, as well as a few from in-town rivals.
Boltz said the LHS and 300M are “more elegant and sophisticated” than their cousin LH-model Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler Concorde sedans. Both will be priced less than $30,000, Boltz said.
“There will be only two options, a power sunroof and chrome wheels,” he said. Such goodies as traction control, four-wheel anti-lock brakes, 17-inch radials and dual air bags will be standard.
Two names ruled out when developing the 300M and LHS were Imperial and New Yorker, Boltz said, hinting that Lee Iacocca would return to Chrysler before the name New Yorker did. He did not rule out Imperial.
‘Bird bits: Sources say the return of the Thunderbird at Ford is progressing, the final styling has been chosen and it probably will be ready for market as a 2001.
Though Ford President Jac Nasser told us last year that the new ‘Bird will be a two-seater, mum is the word on the upcoming coupe. Insiders say it will be a limited-volume edition meant to draw traffic into Ford showrooms.
The upcoming Thunderbird is expected to be built off the same platform as the soon-to-be-introduced entry-level Lincoln LS6 (V-6) and LS8 (V-8), a platform being shared with Jaguar on its soon-to-be-introduced entry-level luxury sedan now code named the X200.
A Jaguar odyssey: Jaguar confirmed it will produced the X400 in the 2001 model year. The smaller luxury sedan will compete with the BMW 3-Series.
Jaguar Chairman Nick Scheele told us: “We’ve got our quality and reliability up, our costs down and our introduction schedules on time; without all of those factors we couldn’t have done the X400..”
Scheele said the X400 will have a Jaguar engine, probably a 6, because “there will be no V-8 in that car.”
A convertible planned for it?
“Who knows?” he said. “But I’ll tell you this, we won’t build any car without cupholders.”
With the X400, “we will progress from being a company with just two model lines selling 45,000 cars a year to being a full-line, four-model premium automobile manufacturer producing 200,000 vehicles each year,” Scheele said.
