Quote:
Originally Posted by ///M TOWN
I give BMW less than 3 years to start cutting models.
By then most of the car industry will be doing so.
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By "cutting models" do you mean not releasing models they had intended to (such as the X8 M that is the topic of this thread)? Or do you mean they will remove models already in the lineup today?
On the latter point, at this particular time in the model cycles, the G14/G15 8 Series are the most likely candidates for an early exit. They are scheduled to end in 2024, but could potentially finish a couple years early. In any case, it is unlikely that either will have direct successors. The G16 8GC, on the other hand is likely to both go the full cycle and get a successor. The Z4 is another one that I could imagine not going the full seven years. And finally the G32 6GT, which has already been cut from the US lineup and which we know will not get a followup after it ends, could bow out earlier than its currently scheduled EOP in 2024.
Outside of those, I'd expect everything else to run the full "G generation" cycle including the not-yet-released G2x 4 Series and G4x 2 Series (and their M counterparts). Although it's true that the economy and the automotive market are in record level slumps right now, I suspect that things will stabilize enough soon enough to avoid drastic product portfolio trimming. That includes the X8 (and its M counterpart), the iNext, and the i4 all coming to market as planned. Having said all of that, I would not doubt that the oft-discussed "is-it-real-is-it-not?" M halo project might be in jeopardy, however.
Now, if we look further out to the next "G2 generation" - which starts with the G70 7 Series in 2022 and goes through 2035 to the very end of the distant future successor (or potential successor) to the upcoming G42 2 Series coupe - then yes, absolutely, there will be cuts. But, I would not expect those to be SAVs. I would instead expect some sort of rationalization of the sedan/Gran-Coupe overlap. Just how they go about balancing the preservation of long standing 3/5/7 nameplates while moving toward the coupe-like aesthetic that most of the industry now favors, but which is currently reserved for the contemporary 2/4/8 nameplates, remains an open question.