Monday, January 12, 2015

BMW aims to boost luxury image 6-series sedans


BMW today revealed a slew of major upgrades for its fast and luxurious 6-series family of luxury sedans at the Detroit auto show.

The German automaker showed off coupe, convertible and gran coupe versions of 6-series cars. The vehicles will hit showrooms in the second quarter of 2015.
BMW today revealed a slew of major upgrades for its fast and luxurious 6-series family of luxury sedans at the Detroit...

The 650i coupe and Gran Coupe four-door will be powered by a 445-horsepower, 4.4-liter turbocharged 8-cylinder engine. The M6 convertible will get 560 horsepower with the same 8-cylinder engine.

BMW's venerable 3-liter straight-six engine produces 315 horsepower in the 640i coupe. Flared rear wheel wells emphasize the cars' width. The interior combines glossy black surfaces with chrome and leather.

A new M Sport model will offer features like 20-inch wheels and an M sport steering wheel without the cost of a full-on M6.

BMW board member Ian Robertson said the vehicles would be available in the spring and were designed to "suit customers' varying needs."

"These are clearly the sportiest and most luxurious 6-series vehicles we have ever built," he said at a press conference at the Detroit auto show.

The vehicles rolled onto the stage one by one as a violinist, cellist, saxophonist and rock band serenaded the crowd.

The introduction of the 6-series variants comes as BMW is enjoying a global surge in the luxury market. The BMW Group topped 2 million units in global sales in 2014 for the first time in its history.

To accommodate for additional demand in the U.S., Robertson said the brand will expand its Spartanburg, S.C. assembly plant to annual manufacturing capacity of 450,000 vehicles, making it BMW's largest factory in the world.

The vehicles BMW showed off at the North American International Auto Show are not high-volume units, but they're halo cars. That means they help improve the brand's image and attract buyers into dealerships to purchase related cars.

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