THERE was a time not so long ago when buyers simply had to decide whether they wanted 4.2 metres of BMW, 4.5 metres or 5 metres.
"The critics were clobbering BMW before 2000, saying the 5 Series looks like the 3 Series, the 7 looks like the 5 and the 3 looks like the 7," BMW chairman Helmut Panke says.
And the critics said they could not tell the new-generation car from the previous generation, says Dr Panke, who is in Sydney for the Forbes chief executive conference this week.
"It's boring, it's not premium, it's not innovative, they said."
So, when BMW started to widen its product range in 2000, a new approach to styling was adopted. Now the critics say the styling, master-minded by head designer Chris Bangle, is controversial, Dr Panke says.
"I will not try to tell you it wasn't controversial, that people just didn't get it," he says.
The first new-wave design was the 2000 7 Series, and Dr Panke couldn't be happier.
"We never sold as many 7 Series saloons as we did with what you call controversial design."
The subsequent designs have done just as well.
"How do you measure the success of style? Having the most successful year, not just volume wise but profit wise, says something's been done right."
In 2004, BMW lifted earnings 10.9 per cent to €3.55 billion ($A5.82 billion) with volume up 9.4 per cent to 1.21 million cars.
"For some time the rear end of the 7 Series was the biggest source of controversy. Now another German manufacturer has a trunk lid on the rear end just we did," Dr Panke says, referring to the new S Class from Mercedes-Benz.
"They have the elevated line on the top of the trunk, and it's not just aerodynamics. The Koreans and Japanese are beginning to accentuate the rear end."
One important aspect of the switch to more controversial design was that it appealed to buyers in the fastest-growing markets in the world, China and South-East Asia, Dr Panke says.
"People say the previous generation 7 Series was the most elegant, sleekest 7 BMW ever. But we did not succeed in getting leadership in Asian markets because it was not seen as giving the owner enough substance.
"In parts of the world, a top-end car has to symbolise power, the success of the buyer.
"With the current generation 7 we have become the leader in Asian markets. That's one reason I was in Singapore last week announcing the start of a BMW Group design studio for Singapore and Asia, to pick up trends, aesthetics, elements, motifs."
"Just look back to 2000. We were clobbered there. We must have done something right."
"The critics were clobbering BMW before 2000, saying the 5 Series looks like the 3 Series, the 7 looks like the 5 and the 3 looks like the 7," BMW chairman Helmut Panke says.
And the critics said they could not tell the new-generation car from the previous generation, says Dr Panke, who is in Sydney for the Forbes chief executive conference this week.
"It's boring, it's not premium, it's not innovative, they said."
So, when BMW started to widen its product range in 2000, a new approach to styling was adopted. Now the critics say the styling, master-minded by head designer Chris Bangle, is controversial, Dr Panke says.
"I will not try to tell you it wasn't controversial, that people just didn't get it," he says.
The first new-wave design was the 2000 7 Series, and Dr Panke couldn't be happier.
"We never sold as many 7 Series saloons as we did with what you call controversial design."
The subsequent designs have done just as well.
"How do you measure the success of style? Having the most successful year, not just volume wise but profit wise, says something's been done right."
In 2004, BMW lifted earnings 10.9 per cent to €3.55 billion ($A5.82 billion) with volume up 9.4 per cent to 1.21 million cars.
"For some time the rear end of the 7 Series was the biggest source of controversy. Now another German manufacturer has a trunk lid on the rear end just we did," Dr Panke says, referring to the new S Class from Mercedes-Benz.
"They have the elevated line on the top of the trunk, and it's not just aerodynamics. The Koreans and Japanese are beginning to accentuate the rear end."
One important aspect of the switch to more controversial design was that it appealed to buyers in the fastest-growing markets in the world, China and South-East Asia, Dr Panke says.
"People say the previous generation 7 Series was the most elegant, sleekest 7 BMW ever. But we did not succeed in getting leadership in Asian markets because it was not seen as giving the owner enough substance.
"In parts of the world, a top-end car has to symbolise power, the success of the buyer.
"With the current generation 7 we have become the leader in Asian markets. That's one reason I was in Singapore last week announcing the start of a BMW Group design studio for Singapore and Asia, to pick up trends, aesthetics, elements, motifs."
"Just look back to 2000. We were clobbered there. We must have done something right."