BMW 5GT sales disappointing, has execs rethinking 5 Series wagon

Automotive News is reporting that the BMW 5 Series GT has been having some unintended and rather unfortunate sales consequences for the German automaker. While the company originally believed that buyers of the old 5 Series Touring would be drawn to the oddball crossover, the truth is that those customers have fled to rival Mercedes-Benz for their wagon needs. Meanwhile, the 5 Series GT has stolen buyers from the more expensive 7 Series line. In Florida, for example, up to 10 percent of 7 Series owners have exchanged keys for the less-expensive GT, which isn't exactly great news for the Bavarians, either.

Of course, overall sales of the 5 Series GT have failed to trend as BMW projected. The company originally said that it intended to move between 4,000 and 8,000 of the models each year, but 2011 has seen only 720 deliveries in the first four months of the year. BMW sold 2,848 examples last year after admitting that they probably incorrectly judged the model mix early on.

While speaking with Automotive News, BMW North America CEO Jim O'Donnell said that he wishes that his company hadn't stopped selling the 5 Series wagon here in the States. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that the big fiver will return to the Land of the Free, at least not in this generation, but the issue will likely be revisited.

The good news is that the automaker may have learned its lesson. Despite the fact that a smaller 3 Series-based Gran Turismo model has been spotted testing (rumored to be called 4 Series), the 3 Series Touring apparently isn't going anywhere anytime soon.