Chasing a niche market even if it kills us: BMW's M-series 4WDs

I think even Porsche realised that releasing ever-less-logical and humungous 4WDs was eroding the traditional brand values... or at least dampening sports car sales. Which is to say that 911 owners in general were put off by fat trucks with Porsche badges. It's brand dilution, spreading a good thing too far. Perhaps it works overall, by creating a better model spread and lowering the risk profile. Perhaps it gets people in the door and welds them to the brand. Perhaps there are existing owners who hanker after something nice to tow the boat. Maybe. Whatever Porsche may be thinking, and hopefully they are thinking of downsizing, BMW are still at it - diluting the brand.

Check this out: a potent truck, large beyond belief, chasing an ever-smaller niche:

BMW’s renowned M division has finally succumbed to 10 years of temptation by creating its first high-performance versions of the company’s luxury
off-roaders.

By gosh it's quick for a fat truck:

Both the X5 M and X6 M are propelled by the same twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 with 408kW of power and 680Nm of torque – the most powerful BMW production engine currently available. That’s enough poke for the 4WDs to sprint from 0-100km/h in a claimed 4.7 seconds – a tenth quicker than the current segment benchmark for acceleration, the 404kW twin-turbo V8 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S.

But why do it? Is the world crying out for this?

It's meant to be a "hero" car, one that creates a halo effect around the brand. But to me it's taking an unnecessarily large car with rarely-used 4WD abilities and making it go faster, whilst drinking more fuel of course. Maybe it will make them more money but it surely won't be making them any friends with the green set, or even the average guy who just wants a planet to live on into the future.

Sums it up really

It really does: "Do a little experiment for me if you will. The next time you're driving to/from work on any major road or freeway in any metro area, especially in the 'smile' section of America (down the east coast, across the south, and up the west coast), start looking around and see if you can go a minute, one whole minute, without seeing a BMW. I'm betting you won't be able to, as they're absolutely everywhere. In the blink of an eye, they went from being fairly rare, usually driven by enthusiasts with a bit of money, to ubiquitous, driven by everybody with a bit of credit."

I too remember when BMWs were understated sporting prestige saloons that hankered after what Alfa Romeo had: history and cachet. They built sweet, practical and fuel-efficient cars with lusty engines and plenty of oversteer. They buried old 4-cylinder blocks to "mature" them, digging them up later, strapping on a big turbo and letting F1 drivers like Nelson Piquet loose. And then they suddenly started to make underpowered cars, lots of 'em, just to sell more. And luxo-barges because they wanted to be like Daimler-Benz. And then they tapped into a little of their past glories to make coupes, although ugly ones. Finally they joined the herd and made unfortunate if brilliantly devised fat 4WDs. And thus they became, like Subaru Impreza WRXs, as common as muck. Like it seemed anyone could buy one, and they did.

It's called marketing, coupled with strategy, coupled with consumers with too much credit and a longing for materialism over all. Good on BMW for mining this happy vein of wealth, but they lost my respect long ago. So it goes.