While the X6 hasn’t exactly been setting the sales charts on fire; its success was never intended to be a story told in mere volume. As it stands, currently the vehicle has one of the highest percentages of purchasers in the BMW fold to buy their vehicles with cash. This implies, of course, that the owners more than likely intend to keep the vehicles for the long term. No dumping of X6s at the end of a three or four year lease term. To put it in perspective, 68% of X6 buyers pay cash as opposed to only 22% of buyers of the more family friendly X5.
In addition, the X6 is also appealing almost exclusively to male purchasers, with over 70% of owners having the Y chromosome. We never knew a vehicle with all the style of a 1982 Chevy Citation on stilts could be the utmost in macho style. What’s next? A two door SUV styled like a Ford Pinto?
So what is the appeal of the new BMW X6? We know it isn’t anything rational like spaciousness or cargo room. Is it the styling? If you want an SUV that is powerful and stylish but don’t need Suburban-sized space, why wouldn’t you go to a Range Rover dealer? Surely Rover makes some of the best looking irrational SUVs out there. Even a Hummer would make more sense.
Why is BMW selling this automotive monstrosity that truly takes the word hybrid and mutates it into something no one should ever desire? Profit, my dear. The X6, which is pretty much just a totally awful rebody of the conservatively attractive X5, costs from $54,000 before options for the 6 cylinder version to nearly ten grand more for the eight cylinder. And we all know you can never buy a BMW without adding at least 5-10 grand more in options. In other words, this banana slug is also a cash cow.
Our view? Call us calloused to the ways of the world if you will, but the BMW X6 is what this time of environmental awareness could call a dead end street. Future generations will see it as the selfish folly of the very rich few. It oozes contempt for any thoughts of conservation and social responsibility. To some, we suppose, that is just the message they are hoping to send with their latest ride.
