BMW 5 Series GT is a Flop and it's Stealing 7 Series Buyers

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BMW released the 5 Series GT at the end of 2009 as an alternative to minivans and crossovers, but it’s failed to meet sales expectations.

BMW expected the 5 Series GT to attract wagon buyers, but instead it has been taking stealing buyers that would normally buy the more expensive 7 Series sedan. 10 percent of 7 Series owners in Florida have replaced their cars with the 5 Series GT. BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell recently stated that he wished that BMW hadn’t stopped selling the 5 Series wagon in the U.S. last year.

O’Donnell told Automotive News, “The disappointment I have is that I thought a lot of our 5-series station wagon customers would go with the GT.”

When BMW launched the GT in the US, BMW expected to sell between 4,000 to 8,000 units annually, but BMW only sold 2,848 GTs in 2010. This year is looking even worse for the GT, with only 720 units sold in the first four months of 2011. According to dealers, buyers dislike the hatchback configuration and styling of the 5 Series GT.

According to O’Donnell BMW is not going to make the same mistake with the 3 Series wagon. The 3 Series wagon will stay so that BMW doesn’t lose sales to Mercedes-Benz.

Full Story: Automotive News