German Confusion

While it seems most of what Germany puts out to the automotive world is well organized and makes perfect sense there are some exceptions and ways the country seems to be confusing the rest of the world. This confusion is simply born of the competition that has become a big part of three brands that constantly look to be in the top spot in the automotive world, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Most of the time BMW leads the way and has the best reputation for driving, but both Audi and Mercedes-Benz have given BMW great challenges over the past several years, which has led to some of the confusion.

Looking at BMW we see a brand that had everything perfectly lined up and organized. The even numbered models indicated cars that only had two doors and came as coupes or convertibles while the odd numbers indicated sedans that were great for families. Then they had to mess it up by offering what they call Gran Coupes and put four doors on lengthened bodies of their even numbered models which essentially became the sedan/coupe models and may be the reason we now have a model called the four door coupe.

The competitive part comes from the Audi and Mercedes-Benz lineups. We now know that BMW is looking to add the two additional doors to their smallest coupe, the 2-Series. This will give it the name of the 2-Series Gran Coupe which will join the likes of the 4-Series Gran Coupe and 6-Series Gran Coupe. This car will be built to be the competitor to the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 as the M2 Gran Coupe. And with that we now have the confusion that I’m referring to in the market from the German automakers.

What is the benefit to having so many different versions? What we should admire, once we get past the confusion portion of the market is the fact that each brand has its vehicles built on their assembly line which can put out several different models that fall under the same overall group. For BMW that would be the numbered series, for Audi the “A” and then then number and for Mercedes-Benz the alphabetically designation and then the class designator. Each of these brands has their own way of letting us know the differences between their different models that have been produced on the same line and given the ability to give us the right vehicle for our driving needs and habits.

When we look at the new M2 Gran Coupe we see the goal for BMW is to have this car be an RWD model rather than using AWD that is put into the two competitors it has. This will give the car a luxury driving feeling and continue to give us the driving dynamics we want to enjoy on the road or on the track. In order to make room for this car the 3-Series is expected to get larger, which may fall under some scrutiny as this car is touted as one of the best driving cars in the world.

When will we see the new 2-Series Gran Coupe? The expected model year is 2019 but we will most likely see concept and production versions hit the stages of the auto shows around the world in the next several months. This will be a four-door version of the highly active 2 Series coupe which took the world by storm this past year. By giving us this version of the car we may see this becoming the entry level model from BMW, or it could simply be a performance oriented four door car that has the look and style of a coupe. Either way, the German way of designating vehicles continues to be a delightfully confusion landscape to enjoy, admire and become part of. With so many variations you can bet there will be at least one model for you.