BMW design boss rules out ute – report

German car maker BMW says it has no plans for a pick-up – despite record sales globally – as the design boss dismisses the concept as a passing trend.

A high-ranking executive at BMW says the company has no plans to enter the ute or pick-up market – despite the global surge in sales of such vehicles.

In an interview with BMW Blog, the design director for BMW, Adrian van Hooydonk, dismissed utes and pick-ups as a “trend”.

“It’s not an obvious fit for the BMW brand. We don’t have to go after every trend that is happening,” Mr van Hooydonk told BMW Blog. 

“If we go into a segment then we want to go in there for the long haul. Also, we don’t have to go after every trend that is happening. What I do see and find interesting is that during COVID, we saw a trend for people who want to spend time outdoors.”

Utes have been the top two selling vehicles in Australia for the past six years – and the Toyota HiLux has been number one for the past seven years.

In the US, the Ford F Series has led the new-car market for almost half-a-century.

In 2022, utes and pick-ups across all brands accounted for one-in-five of all new motor vehicles sold in Australia – and outsold passenger cars locally for the second year in a row.

Despite this, Mr van Hooydonk believes the push to make utes and pick-ups more appealing to a broader range of customers is not enough to encourage BMW to enter the segment.

“What’s interesting is that the pick-up truck is becoming more sophisticated. The electric drivetrains are coming in. Of course, the prices are going way up. They have also become more refined.

“So those are all interesting developments. But (it is) not necessary for us to go and jump in that thing right away. Because of course it has to also be somewhat believable, authentic also to the BMW brand.”

BMW has shown two ute concepts since the turn of the millennium, although neither have come close to entering production.

In 2011, the German brand produced a one-off ute based on the contemporary M3 convertible, although it clarified the vehicle was nothing more than an April Fools’ Joke – albeit one which had taken real time and effort to build.

In 2019, BMW turned to its X7 and cut off the SUV’s rear bodywork, with a team of vocational trainees spending more than 10 months on designing, developing and creating the concept. As with the M3 ute, the company stressed it would not be put into production.

The post BMW design boss rules out ute – report appeared first on Drive.