BMW, no stranger to offering any and all alternatives to a Mercedes-Benz or Audi product, will reportedly be unveiling an all-new 8 Series to combat the S-Class Coupe. The rising popularity of the large two-door Benz, further fueled by the critical praise of the newest C217 version, have now compelled the Munich automaker to respond in kind.
The competition between the three major premium German automakers have always been intense, with each finding any excuse to trade blows in terms of executive saloons or tread on a path the other has already forged.
Enter the BMW 8 Series, the front-engine grand tourer coupe that has been missed since its 10-year production run ended in 1999. Slowing sales and a focus to volume sellers meant that Bimmer did not have a successor lined up.
Reportedly due out in 2020, the next BMW 8 Series will, numerically, sit above the flagship 7 Series saloon in the same way the two-door 6 Series relates to the four-door 5 Series and the 4 Series to the 3 Series - continuing their naming scheme of odd-numbered saloons and even-numbered coupes or more ‘lifestyle-oriented’ vehicles.
A report by Automobile Magazine says that the upcoming model has already been given an internal codename, G14/G15, implying that the project has been fully greenlit by the company’s top brass.
With the new car being of similar dimension to the current 6 Series, BMW will endeavor to widen the gap of the two models lines by possibly narrowing the 6 to merely the Gran Coupe. The report suggests that the 8 Series will be occupying much of the market gap that is currently being filled by the 6 Series and possibly be phasing it out slowly.
BMW Blog, however, says that the 6 Series will still have a clearly defined role to play in the company’s stable, focusing it more as a sports car offering to compete with Porsche, they say. We’re not sure, though, whether the altered nomenclature and negligible size differences will be enough for either model to not encroach on each other’s customer base, especially since each will likely spawn their own M-branded variants: M6 and M8.
A lot of variables are still up in the air at this point for BMW’s flagship coupe and speculation can only serve so much. If these reports are proven true, we will no doubt be hearing a lot more about this all-new model’s development and planned launch well ahead of its alleged 2020 premiere.
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