You remember the BMW Concept 4 and its giant grille? Sure you do. The template for the next 4 Series took after the new X7 and 7 Series in having a grille the size of the Moon. Whether you like it or not is somewhat beside the point, as BMW has now said its customers were demanding something “strong.” BMW simply had no choice.
This is coming from BMW product chief Peter Henrich, who recently spoke with Autocar recently to defend its styling choices.
“This is crucial for success,” said Henrich. “BMW customers are demanding. They want to express something and are not afraid of vehicles with strong characters. They are looking for it. So we have decided to focus even more on strong characters and bold design.
“The design team with Adrian van Hooydonk do an excellent job in designing and defining that character. The feedback received has been very positive. When first shown the X7, people said: ‘How big is the kidney grille?’ But customers never reacted like that and the car is a great success. It’s sold out for a very long period and people love it.”
Henrich also had this to say about the haters:
“There are always people specifically looking for something critical and afraid of something new. But we are very self-confident and will continue.”
That’s right, it’s your fear of new things that’s driving your distaste for that massive grille, not the fact that you have functional eyes. BMW’s not feeling defensive at all, why would you think that.
It loves its big grilles, and so do its customers. Remember the Vision iNext?
BMW’s customers need that huge grille, BMW says to itself when it goes to bed at night. Wait, what’s that?
The unusual grille of BMW’s 2018 Vision iNext, which previews a large electric SUV due in 2021, has been abandoned following feedback, design chief Domagoj Dukec has revealed.
BMW says this also to fit in sensors for autonomous driving, which is something it would say. I personally don’t really mind the big grilles but BMW doesn’t have to act so weird about them.