Ralf Maler, Department Manager of Product Planning & Strategy at BMW North America, has told in an interview to Digital Trends that the company is weighing the pros and cons of releasing its first-ever convertible SUV.
One of the reasons for this kind of model range expansion, he said, would be that the customers are becoming increasingly interested in this type of cars. This, in turn, means better sales.
The German automotive enterprise may be trying to follow the example of UK-based Jaguar Land Rover, a company that launched its Evoque Convertible in 2015 to an impressive 25% increase in annual sales.
He added that, if the idea gets greenlit, the new vehicle will be developed with the BMW X platform as basis. This may mean that the first convertible SUV to be ever released by the brand is going to be the new X2 – at least, that’s what a media rumor claimed true as early as January 2018.
Volkswagen has also been taking a closer look at the same market niche lately. The industry leader made a statement back in February saying it would launch the production of convertible SUVs starting in 2020. The first model is reported to be based on the VW T-Roc platform and borrow some design features from the T-Cross Breeze Concept.
Photo: topspeed.com