MODEL BLITZ
BMW resurrects luxury coupe to rival Mercedes
The sporty 8-Series two-door car, set to hit dealerships in 2018, will compete with Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class coupe
Munich — BMW is plotting the revival of a high-end coupe to claw back market share lost to arch-rival Mercedes, part of a model blitz that BMW is billing as the biggest in its history. The sporty 8-Series two-door car, set to hit dealerships in 2018, will compete with Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class coupe. BMW’s version was the first in an 8-Series rollout that is key to its strategy of selling more expensive cars, said CEO Harald Krueger, "We’re switching to attack mode," Krueger told shareholders in Munich. "The 8 Series coupe will underpin our claim to leadership in the luxury segment." Krueger, under pressure to finance a costly shift to electric robocars and show progress after two years at the helm, has sharpened his rhetoric after BMW lost its crown as the world’s leading luxury-car maker to the Daimler marque in 2016. After failing to generate excitement with a conservative revamp of the bread-and-butter 5-Series, the CEO announced a barrage of new models in March. These include lar...
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