BMW will launch 12 products in India in 2019, including new/all-new models and configurations of existing models. The introductions will include the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe.
Speaking to Times of India about the models planned for 2019 last month, Hildegard Wortmann, Senior Vice-President, BMW Asia-Pacific, said: “We will be introducing the 8 Series saloon in the market.”. By “saloon”, she was referring to the yet-to-debut Gran Coupe version. Its world premiere will take place in 2019, the Coupe and Convertible body styles were globally launched this year.
The BMW 8 Series is widely seen as a successor to the BMW 6 Series (excluding the GT introduced in 2017), but that’s not the case. The former shares underpinning with the latest BMW 7 Series, while the latter was a derivation of the previous generation 5 Series.
The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe was previewed by the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe at the bygone Geneva Motor Show. A model for customers looking for something more sensuous and outgoing than the BMW 7 Series, it will feature a floating roofline, sleek greenhouse and short tail, all equally chipping in to form a sporty coupe silhouette. Body highlights will likely include notably slim headlamps and tail lamps, double-bubble roof and frameless windows.
Globally, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe may come with a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine dishing out 390 kW (530 PS) and 750 Nm of torque as well as a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder diesel engine good for 235 kW (320 PS) and 680 Nm - both married to an 8-speed AT. India may get only the diesel option, to begin with. Should BMW offer a RWD configuration, that’s the most likely to reach our market.
The 2-door Coupe version, the only BMW 8 Series body style out in the world market right now, is an AWD-only offering at the moment, but the RWD configuration is planned, to make it more accessible. It’s only logical to expect that the Gran Coupe version will come in RWD drivetrain layout as well, which the German automaker traditionally prefers for its 4-door models here.
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The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe will likely cost over INR 1.25 crore (ex-showroom).
[Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com]
