To the shock of very few (5 series GT news)

keethrax wrote: And now that's leading to "crossovers". Essentially any practical vehicle is seen as "uncool" and so the exact for a practical vehicle takes morphs every 10 years or so. None of the new forms have become more useful than the station wagon for most people, SUV's being particularly bad in that regard.

Minivan > All.

Nobody hates minivans/station wagons, everyone hated the people who typically drove them.

Which is to broadly and inaccurately say, mothers on the roads piss people off.

I was gonna say it was just the drivers that made people hate SUVs, but I can't, as most modern SUVs suck at everything.

Duke wrote: It's apparently successful enough that Honda/Acura, Audi, Infiniti, and others have spent the money to make them.

Of the items on your list, the only one I've actually seen more than one of on the road is the Accord Crosstour.

hmmm.. a two door M3 fastback.. now that would be tasty.. but isn't that called the Z4?

MadScientistMatt wrote:

Duke wrote: It's apparently successful enough that Honda/Acura, Audi, Infiniti, and others have spent the money to make them.

Of the items on your list, the only one I've actually seen more than one of on the road is the Accord Crosstour.

I agree it is an utterly indefensible design idea - all the worst parts of sedan, coupe, and SUV rolled into one - but there must be enough in the marketing analysis (which we all know is completely divorced from anything approaching common sense and practicality) to convince numerous major manufacturers to spend development money on the poor misbegotten monstrosities.

Duke wrote: I agree it is an utterly indefensible design idea - all the worst parts of sedan, coupe, and SUV rolled into one - but there must be enough in the marketing analysis (which we all know is completely divorced from anything approaching common sense and practicality) to convince numerous major manufacturers to spend development money on the poor misbegotten monstrosities.

Marketing analysis can also be completely divorced from actual consumer demand, as this article demonstrates. That appears to be the case for large 4 door fastbacks.

In reply to MadScientistMatt:

Thanks for the article, it was interesting. Y'know, I've seen a lot of that kind of thing lately, and not just regarding the auto industry. The place I got laid off from (a major Cable TV network) tried a major shift in its programming, and when the ratings plummeted, the response from the top was a marketing & on-air promotional campaign trying to browbeat the viewers into watching programming they just didn't care for, instead of simply re-visiting the concept. Their whole attitude was, "We're geniuses! Why can't you shiny happy people see that!". Ugh.

I like this much better than the X6. From some angles, it's actually handsome. A regular wagon does make more sense though. Still, maybe I'll pick one of these up in another 8 years.

I don't get the 5GT's market position. You have a the 5 series wagon, and the sedan for those. Fastbacks are great, but are risky styling wise from the homerun vs strikeout with no chance of a base hit.

I personally like the GT but not enough to pay a premium over the sedan. I also find the functionality a little lacking compared to the wagon. So it is a car in limbo.

If I want a good looking fastback luxury car. I'll buy this