7/06/2007

Clearly I'm Not Your Target Audience: The BMW x3

This is the new BMW x3. It is not an SUV. It is an SAV -- a Sports Activity Vehicle®. It is BMW's luxury crossover sports [whatever-ity] vehicle. It has a base price of $38,000. According to Edmunds, "If you're shopping for a premium, performance-oriented compact SUV -- and don't mind the stiff ride and even stiffer price of entry -- we recommend that you put the BMW X3 at the top of your short list of choices." I do not have such a short list, much less choices. It would be nice to be (independently) wealthy. Choices must be fun. If I were financially solvent and suddenly confettied with choices, I would not purchase the BMW x3, not simply because I think it's ridiculous to own (and presumably drive) an SUV SAV in the city, but now also because of this: or this: I will not deny that these are beautiful images. I almost applaud the agency responsible for these print ads, for reminding people that maybe they should take their SAV to slightly more terrain-appropriate parts of the world. I'm rather appalled, however, by the idea that one with an SAV (or any vehicle) would regard city streets as one's playground (a playground which apparently needs mixing up! Like a fun martini! Whee!). I'm also pretty sure that no one with a $40k SAV is going to be taking it to the desert ... or Peru? (I honestly can't tell where that's supposed to be, intermingled with London.) People with choices find much more clever (and local-economy-exploiting) ways to travel these days.

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