Hot on the heels of the latest oh so bland BMW 5 Series comes the new Audi A8. The biggest saloon in the Audi range is now even bigger, but thanks to an all aluminum chassis and trick weight saving wheels it is lighter than the model it replaces. Unfortunately the new car hasn’t only lost a few pounds, but sadly it may have lost its mojo.
The New Audi A8
Not that the old A8 was brash. Far from it. The old A8 was the understated large saloon of choice. Using my clichéd business model, the A4 was for middle managers, the A6 for senior managers and the A8 was a car you bought to be driven in, the director’s car of choice. While the BMW 7 series was ugly and driven by flash geezers (and currently the car transporting a certain Miss Cole on the X-Factor), the A8 was handsome and the preserve of the design conscious. While the Mercedes S Class continued it’s merchant bankers and dictator image, the A8 was driven by the coolest cat of them all, Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry.
Sadly the new car has undergone the ‘Xerox Photocopier effect’ that blights the latest 5 series. While that looks like an elongated 3 series, the A8 looks like a spitting image of the A4, only fatter. No doubt the Bang & Olufsen stereo will be superb but then so is the 1200 watt Bowers & Wilkins system in the new Jaguar XJ.
What we have here then is the Audi Elvis Presley. Still sounds good, but boydoes it look fatter.
Filed under: Audi | 1 Comment
BMW 5 Series: Anti-climax?
The Brand New 5 Series
The last BMW 5 Series was met with disgust in many circles. Traditionalists said it’s controversial designer Chris Bangle had lost the plot, turning a sleek executive car into a mishmash of design ideas.
The last 'Bangle' designed 5 Series
Others lamented the ‘Dame Edna’ headlight design and many, already put off by the 7 series, said the car would lose sales for the Bavarian marque. It didn’t, in fact the car was the most successful 5 series so far, and to my eyes at least still looks fresh today, unlike the previous Mercedes E Class.
The brand new 5 series was launched in Munich last week. Hotly anticipated by business managers all over the world (the low emission 520d is a management car park favourite) and now facing stiff competition from the brilliant Jaguar XF and the rejuvenated Mercedes E Class, this is a hugely significant car for BMW.
Unfortunately the result is an anti-climax. Where the last 5-series was daring, the new one is safe. Where the last 5 series was unique, the new one looks like a 3 series photocopied to 120%.
Some will blame the departure of the often criticised Bangle for the design change. I blame the recession and the subsequent move away from ostentatious car design for mainstream models.
Sure the BMW X6, a four seater, coupe shaped 4×4 in a time of increasingly environmentally conscious media attention doesn’t fit in with this mould. But the X6 is a niche model, designed to appeal to a select group of Cheshire lottery winners.
The 5 series is second only to the 3 series in importance to BMW. Promotion in the workplace, usually results in the move up a class in BMW or the alternative Audi, Mercedes or BMW. Sadly I can’t build up any excitement for the new model.
Sure it’s interior looks stunning and the new car will almost certainly be fantastic to drive. The car will continue BMW’s reign as the ironic environmentally friendly car brand of choice (their Efficient Dynamics campaign has made their mainstream models hugely efficient and dynamic, appropriately!).
However it’s just so uninspiring!
Filed under: BMW | Leave a Comment
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