It’s official – the BMW 5-Series is hatching out! This is the all-new Gran Turismo, a striking hatchback crossover that will sit at the very top of the new 5-Series range when sales start later this year.Mixing a four-door coupe body with raised, sliding rear seats like an MPV and a Skoda Superb-style twin-door hatchback, the Gran Turismo enters a new sector for BMW, targeting buyers who want a flexible luxury car, but one that’s not an estate or an SUV.This almost showroom-ready concept will make its worldwide debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, with the finished article arriving in the UK in October, priced at around £40,000. And BMW bosses hope it will attract new customers to the brand.“The conventional saloon has been around since the car industry started so perhaps now is the time for something new,” said BMW board member Ian Robertson. “The Gran Turismo fills a new niche and is an appropriate alternative to an SUV.”Debuting the ‘face’ of the next generation 5-Series – which will be revealed in 2010 – with larger kidney grilles and new lights similar to those of the CS concept car, the Gran Turismo sits on a new modular rear-wheel-drive platform that will also underpin the next generation 5-Series.At the rear, there’s a steeply sloping coupe-style roofline with X6-style tail-lights, while all the doors feature pillarless windows. The tailgate is similar to Skoda’s twin-door, first seen on the Superb, although BMW maintains that it has been developing the boot concept for a number of years.It can be used as a hatchback, or like a saloon with just the lower section opening up. Two buttons under the bootlid allow owners to switch between the two modes.Inside, the concept has ample seating for two rear passengers. Each chair is mounted around six inches higher than in a regular 5-Series, and can be individually slid backwards and forwards. The seat backs can tilt too. A body length of five metres, a long wheelbase and wide rear doors aid access.“The Gran Turismo is easier to get in and out of than either an SUV or a saloon,” explained Chris Bangle, who was present at the Munich unveiling in his final capacity as BMW design boss. “But it has more rear seat space than a 7-Series. This is a car that has been designed from the inside out with rear passenger room similar to that in first class air travel.”Up front, the driver and passenger also sit higher than they do in a regular 5-Series while Bangle’s design team has brought in a new dashboard with a more prominent centre console that’s covered in high gloss piano black material.The rear seats also fold down and thanks to a removable bulkhead, the boot’s 430-litre capacity can be expanded to 1,650 litres, giving the Gran Turismo the second largest carrying capacity in the BMW range, after the X5.The production version will be offered with three rear seats, with the two-seater configuration of the concept available as an option. The extended sunroof, which stretches over the rear passengers’ heads, is likely to be carried over to the finished model too. BMW expects the Gran Turismo to account for 12-15 percent of 5-Series sales with around 2,500 models sold in the UK each year. Engines will mirror the next generation 5-Series line-up with the range kicking off with 3.0-litre petrol and turbodiesel six-cylinder powerplants.Expect more powerful turbocharged V8s too, while BMW is also likely to make a hybrid model available in 2010. Although bosses would not comment, it’s expected that the Gran Turismo heralds a new range of BMW models, which could be followed by a 3-Series flagship with a similar combination of style and practicality. For more details click here.
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