It wasn't all that long ago that you would have been hard pressed to find a hatchback car for sale in the U.S.
But now with the crossover craze in full swing BMW just pulled the cloth off of the new 5 Series Gran Turismo (GT) concept.
This car is scheduled to make an "official debut" at the Geneva auto show in March, but this BMW cat is out the bag a little bit early.
"This is the most customer-centered car we've ever done," Bangle said.
"We discovered a group of BMW buyers we were failing to reach out to at
a sales level. We wanted to build a car to suit their everyday needs.
There were no preconceived ideas. Everything you see is customer
driven."
According to to Autoweek:
"The 5-series GT, which will be shown in production trim at the
Frankfurt motor show in September (North American sales begin in 2010),
is based on BMW's new large-car platform, first used by the redesigned
7-series. It rides on a unique 120.9-inch wheelbase that is expected to
be shared with a long-wheelbase version of the next 5-series to be sold
in the Chinese market.
At launch, the 5-series GT will be offered
only with rear-wheel drive, although the xDrive four-wheel-drive system
is planned to be offered as an option in the future."
Auto Express is reporting, "Debuting the
‘face’ of the next generation 5-Series – which will be revealed in 2010
– with larger kidney grilles and new lights similar to those of the CS
concept car, the Gran Turismo sits on a new modular rear-wheel-drive
platform that will also underpin the next generation 5-Series.
Up front, the driver and passenger
also sit higher than they do in a regular 5-Series while Bangle’s
design team has brought in a new dashboard with a more prominent centre
console that’s covered in high gloss piano black material."