Rise of the HumpBacks

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

01-08-2010, 02:34 PM

TSX69

Safety Car

Thread Starter

Join Date: Dec 2004

Location: NC

Posts: 4,780

Likes: 908

Received 1,394 Likes on 699 Posts

Rise of the HumpBacks

Rise of the HumpBacks
They are different, funny-looking and, even more importantly, new — but can they draw in consumers?

By Lawrence Ulrich of MSN Autos

While Porsche wants the 2010 Panamera to be comfortable in motion as well as at rest, it's still a Porsche. So the balance between comfort and performance was pre-engineered.

Just when Americans were getting used to the term "crossover," along comes another head-scratching, lexicon-taxing auto phenomenon: the humpback. Characterized by their sloping fastback roofs, rear hatchbacks and whatchamacallit looks, these machines are further erasing the traditional distinctions not just between cars and trucks, but among sedans, coupes, hatches, wagons and even sports cars.

The mix-and-match brigade includes the Porsche Panamera, BMW X6 and 5-Series GT, Honda Accord Crosstour, Acura ZDX, the upcoming Audi A7 and the high-priced Aston Martin Rapide; i.e., seven oval-shaped pegs that don't fit neatly into any of the traditional square auto-segment holes.

Scaling Down
Consider the BMW X6 (and higher-powered X6 M offshoot) and Acura ZDX, for example. Both start with the basic bones of a midsize crossover utility vehicle — the BMW X5 and Acura MDX, respectively. But in a paean to style, designers shear and taper their roofs toward the rear, actually reducing cargo space and rear headroom compared with the SUVs that spawned them. In addition, they ride closer to the ground than their sport-ute siblings, but higher than any comparable sedan. The result might be termed a crossover coupe, but even that label doesn't describe what the surgery has wrought.

The ZDX and X6 are hot-handling and almost frivolous, with little interest in chauffeuring kids to soccer practice or making trips to Home Depot. While the BMW and Acura will hold four adults, they're being marketed mainly to empty-nesters as indulgent lifestyle vehicles, with luxury and performance taking top priority. And whatever you call them, they look and drive nothing like your typical crossover. (BMW, straining for its own definition, dubs the X6 a "Sports Activity Coupe.")

Scaling Up
Other models have a different philosophy: Instead of scaled-down SUVs, they're scaled-up sports cars, coupes or sedans with added cargo space. The new Porsche Panamera, for instance, was designed to evoke the sexy lines of a sports car, but in a 4-door hatch that's as long as a full-size sedan. The selling points are obvious for Porsche: The Panamera has an adult-size back seat and far more cargo space than any of its other vehicles — except the massive Cayenne SUV, of course. Even more importantly for those who love to drive but need more utility, the Panamera is nearly as thrilling to drive as a typical Porsche sports car — and far more adept than any conventional sedan on the market.

Michael Mauer, the Panamera's chief designer, says the car was born from intensive discussions at Porsche over how the automaker could expand its lineup. The company had courted controversy before in trying to expand its market offerings — and scored a worldwide sales triumph — with the mighty Cayenne. This time, the folks in Stuttgart knew they wanted a 4-seater to complement the automaker's less practical sports cars. But the company rejected the idea of a traditional sedan, preferring to push the envelope instead.

"The idea of the tailgate was born," Mauer says, along with the Panamera's coupelike roofline and proportions that could accommodate four adults and their gear.

Analysts say that, in this economy, the Panamera (which starts at just under $90,000) will likely attract buyers who have big bucks but can no longer justify splurging on a 2-seat weekend toy.

Going Against the Grain
One of the most promising features of these cars is that they defy some conventional economic wisdom: that in a slumping economy, car companies would stop releasing new products in an attempt to conserve valuable resources (i.e., save money). If anything, the humpback brigade shows that many automakers actually are expanding their product lines and continuing to look for the next big thing.

Hence, these Frankenstein-like science projects are sprouting up all over the automotive landscape, says Jeff Schuster, director of vehicle forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates. "You don't want the company down the street to have a vehicle you don't have, and see them do well with it," Schuster says.

What's the Rub?
Naturally, these science projects have sparked controversy, especially among purists who insist that brands such as BMW and Porsche hew to the old rules. Some critics and consumers have savaged the Panamera — along with the Honda, the Acura and both BMWs — for having ungainly proportions or swollen rear ends, even as they praise their performance or utility. "The car takes getting used to," Porsche's Mauer acknowledges.

BMW, which has been especially fearless in experimenting with new styles in several vehicle segments it serves, has sparked critical debate with both the X6 and 5-Series GT. The GT has an exterior footprint close to the Panamera's. But the GT, based on the terrific flagship 7-Series, is more of a decadent luxury sedan than the 4-door sports car, only with a hatch stuck to its extra-wide rear. That two-piece hatch may look odd, but it's certainly ingenious, operating either as a conventional trunk or as a larger liftgate. Besides delivering more maximum cargo space than a 5-Series wagon, the GT offers sumptuous, deep-reclining rear seats with almost limolike legroom, along with a 450-horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 engine and all the luxury and gadgets of the 7-Series. A more affordable 535i GT will go on sale next spring, likely starting in the mid-$50,000 range, equipped with a more fuel-efficient turbocharged 6-cylinder engine.

At roughly half the BMW's 550i GT's price ($64,725 to start), the Honda Accord Crosstour also seeks to combine luxury with expanded space. Honda media spokesman Chris Naughton says the Crosstour fills a gap in the lineup between the smaller, less expensive CR-V crossover and the big, 7-passenger Pilot: "The Crosstour's mission is to be the roomiest, most premium Accord we offer."

The Crosstour's tacked-on hatchback caboose virtually doubles the cargo space of the conventional Accord sedan. While that layout can seem suspiciously similar to that of a wagon, the styling disguises the fact with a curvier roof.

Honda may have taken a lesson from the Accord wagon, which it sold here for years. But the Crosstour isn't just a rebadged version of that vehicle. "You can't get away with that anymore," Naughton says. "You have to bring something genuinely different." That is, if you want to sell cars.

Honda has relatively high hopes for the Crosstour, projecting annual sales of 40,000 units. That means roughly one of 10 Accord buyers would choose the Crosstour over the sedan and coupe.

Success or Sensation?
Automakers are under no illusions that these niche-within-a-niche models will reach Top 10 sales status. BMW expects to sell only about 6,000 units a year of its X6 and its mega-powered offshoot, the 555-horsepower X6 M. Acura is conservatively targeting the same 6,000 units as the annual sales for the ZDX.

Analysts note that previous stabs at genre-bending hatchbacks — including the Lexus IS 300 SportCross and Saab 9-3 SportCombi — have been singular failures in the U.S. market. In defense of the new breed, however, the Lexus and Saab seemed little more than traditional sedans with clumsy hatch lids attached.

Ready or not, however, more humpback cars are coming. Among the sexiest offshoots is the Audi Sportback, a concept car that takes its name from the sloping Sportback models that Audi has sold in Europe. That long, 4-door hatch will be dubbed the A7 when it goes into production. The eye-catching Aston Martin Rapide, which company CEO Ulrich Bez bills as a true "4-door sports car," will take on the Panamera Turbo.

Schuster says the trend continues the customer migration from the biggest 4-wheel-drive trucks to smaller vehicles. The economy plays a part as well. "If a consumer is downsizing or making do with one car instead of two, then the smaller vehicle had better do what my big vehicle did," he says. "In some ways, these models are glorified wagons and hatchbacks. But if you put them in a slightly different and modern package, the market may respond to that."