Word: bmw
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...early '90s, foreign carmakers have raised the stakes in the sports-car game by doing a better job of marrying comfort with performance and style. This year Nissan crammed a 287-h.p. engine into its 350Z and outfitted it with luxuries like heated seats and a premium audio system. BMW's new Z4 is loaded with power and gadgetry and features a body crafted to evoke a flame, part of BMW's bid to embolden its designs...
...automakers have learned, building a hot sports car is no Sunday drive. The vehicles are tricky to get right, requiring greater attention to design, engineering and marketing. Even specialists such as Porsche and BMW can't stay on cruise control. Although Porsche last week reported record profits, powered by sales of its 911 Turbo, competition facing its entry-level Boxster ($45,000-plus) contributed to a 21% falloff in sales for the vehicle. A redesign is expected...
...BMW's Z3 sold briskly when it debuted in 1996, but sales have plummeted more than 50% in the past three years. "The Z3 got old and tired," says Alan Baum, an auto-industry analyst with the Planning Edge in Farmington Hills, Mich. The car developed a reputation for being tough to drive and was not enticing enough to men, who are the main buyers of sports cars. "The Z4 is a more athletic and substantive car," says Hennie Chung, BMW's product manager for the vehicle. Yet its reception illustrates critics' fussiness when evaluating roadsters. "The car's proportions...
...engineered into sports cars. To make its Crossfire, Chrysler modified a platform that its sister brand, Mercedes-Benz, is phasing out. Foreign automakers have rolled out profitable models partly because they spent decades investing in platforms that can flex: Audi's TT sits on a modified Golf platform; BMW's Z4 started out with a 3-Series...
...bringing us a wider range of buyers," says Kevin Worfe, a Nissan dealer in Austin, "but we aren't seeing the effects on volume yet." For new owners, however, the car seems to be performing robustly. David Beverly says he got into a race last week with a BMW, clocking 115 m.p.h. before backing off. "I'm not 18 anymore," he says, "but it was heart-throbbing." --With reporting by Joseph R. Szczesny/Detroit