BMW says wagons, convertibles and other niche models are safe in Australia

BMW says it intends to continue offering the same level of model variety in Australia as always, despite moves by some of its key competitors.

In recent years, Mercedes-Benz dropped its wagon models in Australia, while Audi has yet to introduce new-generation large cars.

These are over and above global product-planning decisions made by those two brands, which in Audi’s case has included the axing of all its two-door models.

When asked whether there’s a minimum sales threshold it considers to determine whether to continue importing a model – and whether niche body styles like wagons and convertibles are safe here – BMW Group Australia CEO Vikram Pawah told CarExpert that no such threshold exists.

“I don’t think you can pick up anything. I think we provide everything that they offer in the world in Australia,” said Mr Pawah.

“I don’t think you can pick one example and tell me that no, that’s not available in Australia, because we believe that if a customer wants it, we’re going to bring it – it’s as simple as that.

“I don’t want to talk about competition, but I know many, many brands talk about business cases for bringing things in. We don’t. We simply say, ‘are there customers who want this product?’ We’ll order it in.

“I can’t remember any model where there’s a handful of customers, even if you look at some of our M models, right? There’s still plenty of customers out there who want them. I don’t think anything would have been two-digit numbers – very rare.”

This commitment to low-volume models and their fans has seen BMW continue to offer wagons, and in fact it has even expanded its wagon lineup in recent years by adding wagon versions of the M3, M5 and i5.

However, BMW Australia doesn’t offer the entire European lineup here. One notable omission is the 2 Series Active Tourer, which was discontinued here in 2020 but was renewed in Europe for a second generation.

There are also model variants that can’t be had here such as the M340i xDrive Touring and diesel versions of the X1.

BMW Australia also axed the 330e plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ahead of the 2024 model year, but the model lives on in markets such as Europe.

To the end of June, BMW Australia’s lowest-volume models are the 8 Series range (21 deliveries), the i5 electric sedan and wagon (9), the full-size 7 Series and its electric i7 sibling (20 and 17 respectively), and the flagship XM performance SUV (23).

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