An article over at motor1.com details how, prior to the X5, BMW seriously considered merging their dealerships with Land Rover to tackle the emerging SUV market.
While this may seem ludicrous today, given the amazing success that BMW’s “Sports Activity Vehicles” (Of course, BMW wouldn’t sully itself with that pedestrian naming convention touting “utility.”) have become. BMW Plant Spartanburg, which produced the first X5, is now the largest BMW plant in the world and produces 1,500 vehicles today, with SAVs being the most prominent bimmers produced. So what’s this about BMW initially considering using Land Rover? Well, at the time BMW Group actually owned Land Rover. It wasn’t until 2000 that BMW sold the brand to the Ford Motor Group, which later sold it to Tata Motors, which also owns Jaguar.
According to the article, in the early 1990s BMW executives took notice of the growing popularity of the “not a station wagon, but not a truck” crossover SUVs, particularly in North America. Keep in mind that this was the era when the BMW Ultimate Driving Machine equated to a powerhouse of a coupe or sedan, or a sporty roadster like the Z4. A “truck-like” BMW was considered close to heresy. Hence the flirtation with tacking on Land Rover to fill that “will it last?” niche.
The article reports that, “By 1995, engineers were already working on the L322 Range Rover. Meanwhile, at BMW’s Special Vehicles department, led by Burkhard Göschel, something else was brewing: A BMW counterpart to the Range Rover. Göschel knew the then-chairman “was totally against this,” but pushed ahead, stressing the “difference between both brands.” And as the prospect of merging dealerships started getting a bit of traction, BMW NA President Vic Doolan presented renderings of the resulting BMW-Land Rover dealership, which triggered sharp resistance from Land Rover’s marketing director and then from a BMW board member.
So the decision came down to merging dealerships or actually creating a BMW SUV. According to Tom Plucinsky, Head of BMW Group Classic USA, “There were two camps in BMW at the time about building an SUV: Those for it and those who thought it would be bad for the BMW brand, and besides, we owned Land Rover-arguable the most storied SUV brand in the market.”
And thus history, and incredible sales, were made. Today, the X5 regularly tops BMW sales as it’s most popular model. And most X5s are still assembled at BMW Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina.
Tags: Land Rover Range Rover SAV SUV x5
