A BMW pickup truck might not be as crazy of an idea as it was five years ago.
In 2011, BMW played an April Fools’ joke by releasing the above E92 M3-based pickup truck, but now the idea of a BMW truck isn’t entirely out of the question. Mercedes-Benz is planning to enter the segment with the GLT-Class, which means BMW will have to keep a close eye on the segment. And that’s exactly what BMW Australia’s managing director, Marc Werner, recently told in an interview: “We’re watching the space closely.”
It’s a bit of a departure from what BMW’s Asia, Pacific and South African chief, Hendrik von Kuenheim told last year, when he said the German automaker would “definitely not” built a pickup truck. But then again, BMW swore it would never build front-wheel-drive cars and there’s a few in the company’s lineup now, like the newly introduced 1 Series Sedan for the Chinese market.
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Werner wasn’t optimistic about a BMW truck in the near future though, noting that Mercedes has an advantage producing commercial vehicles, trucks and vans. It’s also easier for competitor Audi to enter the segment thanks to the Volkswagen Amarok’s existence. BMW however, could potentially turn to Toyota, which it is co-developing a new sports car platform with.
There’s no arguing that the pickup truck segment is a strong one, and it’s likely that BMW will see how Mercedes-Benz fares first in the market before it invests into developing a BMW truck of its own, or finding a partner to create one.
[Source: Motoring]
