[Soon ExAudi Guy]

Attached is an article with the President of BMW Canada that appeared in The Globe and Mail this past week.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...rticle1708525/

He talks about the future of the RWD car in Canada. He shares some interesting facts and makes some surprising statements. Amongst them:

“Our aim is not to bring any rear-wheel-drive cars to Canada any more,” Jung said last week at briefing at BMW’s new Canadian LEED-certified headquarters in Richmond Hill, Ont., provoking gasps of shock among the journalists present, most of whom were enthusiast drivers that have long associated fine handling with RWD BMWs.

“Most of the cars we sell are all wheel-drive, all over the world actually,” said Jung. “We sell more AWD product around the world than our colleagues from Ingolstadt [Audi] – even though nobody knows that.”


Seemingly contradicting Jung’s anti-RWD stance, Canadian buyers are especially passionate about BMW’s M-branded and rear-drive-only hot performance cars, purchasing the highest number of M products per capita, especially the M3 and M5. Jung acknowledged that an M version of the 1-Series Coupe will be joining the sub-brand, but also threw out the possibility that an M vehicle may not be synonymous with RWD for much longer.

“We will have the first AWD M products in the future,” he declared, not counting (or momentarily forgetting) that current M versions of the all-wheel-drive X5 and X6 SAVs are already on the market.

I am sure these comments will stimulate some debate and commentary on this forum!

[delvek]

Interesting ...

Reacting only with what we know about todays F10, in my case the 550, I would not be as excited to owner a 550xi despite that I live in a Winter climate. When I bought the 550 I built it so that everything was optimized for speed performance sacrificing other areas as that was not what I wanted in a car.

Does BMW really sell the AWD version of each series more then RWD? I would have lost money if I was betting on that at the local beer hall. A forum member much smarter then me must know the sales figures.

Be telling to see if this sentiment is evoked by worldwide customer feedback through purchasing patterns or another case of a consumer being force fed.

[gatoman39]

What About All-Wheel Drive? - Comparison Tests - Motor Trend

"Often cited as the transportation cure for winter climates, all-wheel drive is far from a silver bullet. In previous tests, we’ve discovered that an all-wheel-drive vehicle with all-season tires can outaccelerate either a front- or rear-driver on winter rubber, but that’s where the advantage ends. The additional traction of winter tires allows a two-wheel-drive car to outbrake, outturn, and generally outmaneuver its all-wheel-drive brethren. Of course, the unstoppable winter option that can impart visions of rally-driving heroism is the combination of all-wheel drive and winter tires, but possessing all-wheel drive generally sacrifices a rear-drive car’s handling balance in the dry, adds a couple hundred pounds, and comes with a fuel-economy penalty. That’s why our preferred choice is to buy a second set of tires to get through the winter—almost always cheaper than the price of all-wheel drive—while relishing the superior dynamics of rear-wheel drive the rest of the year."

Edmunds Tire Test: All-Season vs. Snow vs. Summer

[fireman550]

I am with you gatoman, and with you as well delvek. I figure a good pair of winter tires or all seasons should help out dramatically. To answer the post I feel bad for the fellas up north in Cananda but I doubt this decision would impact the American car market at all due to the fact that the warmer climates like Florida, Cali, Texas, and arizona would have zero need to get an all wheel drive vehicle. Due to this it would be senseless to eliminate rear wheel drive platforms completely here in America....

[nosnoop]

Originally Posted by gatoman39

"Often cited as the transportation cure for winter climates, all-wheel drive is far from a silver bullet. In previous tests, we’ve discovered that an all-wheel-drive vehicle with all-season tires can outaccelerate either a front- or rear-driver on winter rubber, but that’s where the advantage ends. The additional traction of winter tires allows a two-wheel-drive car to outbrake, outturn, and generally outmaneuver its all-wheel-drive brethren. Of course, the unstoppable winter option that can impart visions of rally-driving heroism is the combination of all-wheel drive and winter tires, but possessing all-wheel drive generally sacrifices a rear-drive car’s handling balance in the dry, adds a couple hundred pounds, and comes with a fuel-economy penalty. That’s why our preferred choice is to buy a second set of tires to get through the winter—almost always cheaper than the price of all-wheel drive—while relishing the superior dynamics of rear-wheel drive the rest of the year."

Why do people always believe AWD users would always use all season tires? Of course not.

On snow, RWD just won't cut it - with or without winter tires. The fuel economy penalty is a very small price to pay.

For me, anyways, I will never buy another car without AWD, period.

Anyways, back to the OP's question. I believe this BMW decision for Canada is purely business, as it pushes the profit margin higher - actually, that's the main reason for BMW to offer AWD across the board.

[delvek]

My RWD 535 handled pretty good in the German snow, never had much concern on city streets or autobahn. Proper driving for proper conditions, not sure if my 550 will ever see a snowflake or not, still considering. I have a mercedes wagon I use for ugly days.

[ogrady]

Originally Posted by delvek

Interesting ...

Does BMW really sell the AWD version of each series more then RWD? I would have lost money if I was betting on that at the local beer hall. A forum member much smarter then me must know the sales figures.

No way BMW sells more RWD versions than AWD of each series! I live in a sometimes snowy place and snow tires + rwd has always been just fine for me.

[Jon D]

I'm firmly in the RWD camp with Delvek, Gatoman and Fireman. We get our fair share of snow up here in Scotland and my E92 330d M Sport is utterly useless at those times, especially on 19"x9" low profiles. However, my forthcoming 535d M Sport will be on more sensible 18"x8" tyres, over which I'll be able to fit snow socks when the time comes.
I used to think the Audi A5 was about as good as it gets, until I drove my first BMW. That was when I began to understand the pundit-speak about a good RWD chassis with near perfect steering response and feedback.
A few weeks of winter convenience is more than acceptable for such driving pleasure during the rest of the year.
By way of a side note: AWD BMW saloons are not available in the UK. If the demand was there, I'm sure the cars would be too.

[MOCKBA]

BMW better knows sales dynamics over regions. For example it is hard to by BMW AWD here in California, and although we drive over winter to Tahoe and AWD is a requirement. I believe AWD is a must for such regions as Canada.
Few car enthusiasts who really wants RWD do not make any significant BMW profit, so certainly can be ignored.

[raleedy]

I suppose we are headed for am time when there will be no RWD, no straight sixes and no manual transmission, so no reason to prefer a BMW over, say, a Kia.