CONCEPT GALLERIES – MERCEDES-BENZ SHOOTING BRAKE & BMW GRAN COUPE

Mercedes-Benz says the Shooting Brake Concept is a “further insight by Mercedes designers into the possible future development of the Coupe concept”. BMW says the Gran Coupe “sets new benchmarks in the design of 4-door coupes with a distinctive sporty character”. Yet, and let me be careful how bold I am in advancing traditional theory, the BMW Gran Coupe has FOUR DOORS and the Mercedes-Benz Shooting Brake Concept is a five-door STATION WAGON. Caps lock… on GoodCarBadCar.net? Yes, that’s exactly what you had to witness. Coupes, in the simplest definition, are cars with two doors.

And it’s nothing against the cars. These concept cars from the greatest and mightiest luxury automakers in the world are gorgeous, particularly the Mercedes-Benz Shooting Brake. As an outgrowth of the CLS-Class, the Shooting Brake Concept would be a direct competitor for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon but would sell at a higher price point with much lower volume. The BMW Gran Coupe Concept would inevitably steal some sales from the BMW 7-Series and from the BMW M5, but the Germans always seem to feel they need to be in each others’ niches, no matter how minute the niche. And since Mercedes-Benz has the CLS-Class, BMW wants to give consumers an option.

Peruse auto enthusiast websites long enough and you’ll be unable to quantify the complaints regarding pointless vehicles like, well… these two, the BMW X6, the Volkswagen Passat CC, the Acura ZDX and others. With these two Beijing Auto Show concepts, thankfully, at least the pointlessness is truly handsome. Check out both cars in their respective Galleries after the jump.

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