Mercedes-Benz ute 'appalling', says BMW

A senior BMW executive has slammed arch-rival Mercedes-Benz’s X-Class as “appalling” while confirming his company is investigating a high-performance ute of its own.

And BMW Australia has thrown its support behind bringing the load-lugger to market.

Hendrik von Kunheim, BMW’s senior vice president in charge of the Asia, and South Africa (including Australia), said he had been disappointed by the X-Class, which has been developed using the ladder frame chassis of the Nissan Navara.

“When you look now at our German competitor from Stuttgart I think that product (X-Class) is appalling,” von Kunheim told Australian media bluntly at the Frankfurt motor show overnight. “You would have expected something more serious

“I saw that car (X-Class) in Geneva and was actually disappointed. Very disappointed.

“They can do better, they build fantastic cars, but this one was a disappointment.”

Von Kunheim, the son of BMW’s legendary former boss Eberhard von Kunheim, said he wasn’t alone in thinking so negatively about the X-Class, which goes on-sale in Australia in early 2018.

“I listened to some of your (media) colleagues from other countries. They said it was very cheap, very plasticky, not very much Mercedes-like what you would expect.”

While unimpressed by the X-Class, von Kunheim made it clear he saw a BMW pick-up as a good idea. He even showed off a phone cover created by his staff that included a digitally-created image of a BMW pick-up.

“There is a pick-up on my phone cover just to remember when I am talking to the board what are my priorities,” von Kunheim explained.

He confirmed the concept of a BMW pick-up had progressed to the stage where it had been investigated by BMW.

“I am well aware that BMW engineers have looked into the detail of what it takes,” von Kunheim said.

The pick-up concept has strong support from BMW Australia managing director Marc Werner.

“I personally believe, having been in Australia for more than three years, that there is room for a luxury ute, which is not there at this point in time.

“I believe our company could play a crucial role to fulfill that particular niche, but it’s a question of time when this will actually happen.

“For me it is crystal clear. If the market goes to an SUV share of 60 or 70 per cent then there is also space for a ute.”

A BMW pick-up would be unlikely to follow the utilitarian route followed by Mercedes-Benz’s commercial vehicles division, which developed the X-Class.

Instead, it would more likely use BMW’s CLAR (cluster architecture) monocoque structure, potentially be based on the X5 or forthcoming X7 SUV and have a strong performance emphasis.

“It has to drive like a typical BMW and also has to fulfil the true BMW genes,” said Werner.

If green-lighted now a BMW ute would probably be at least three years away from production. That green light would only come if pick-up markets pushed for it together, said Werner.

“It has to be a collaborative approach across Australia, South Africa, Russia, Brazil; those kinds of markets where the pick-up segment is almost exploding,” said Werner.

“There is a very high-level interest in those markets.”

But von Kunheim made it clear that BMW’s expensive commitment to multiple future technologies knocked the pick-up down the priorities list for BMW.

“You need to continue as a manufacturer to invest into diesel and petrol engines, but we also need to invest into hybrid cars where there is enormous engineering expense,” von Kunheim explained.

“We need to invest in electric cars, where at the moment, if you look at Tesla, is not really a great profit opportunity, to invest in autonomous driving and we need to invest in fuel cells. But we are making only money on traditional petrol and diesel cars.

“So the financial burden on any company seriously in the car business is the highest it definitely has been in the last 100 years because traditionally we used to invest only in diesel and petrol, but now we invest in all the other segments where the stream of revenue is years and years away.

“So you need to prioritise yourself. What do we want to do. And from all the priorities the pick-up is maybe not number one or two priority.”

Von Kunheim said objections to BMW venturing into the pick-up market would be no different to the negativity voiced when the company ventured into SUVs 20 years ago.

“Now we have an X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 and who knows what else is coming,” he said.

Added Werner: “BMW should not exclude itself from leading in the market. We have a responsibility to fulfil customer needs.”