The Post That Is Haunted By Visions Of Carlos Tevez

In the midst of this recession or credit crunch we're in, it seems like BMW has found a micro-niche in the market that requires a new type of car. A car for the person who plays golf, surfs, buys the occasional Van Gogh painting, has long-legged business clients and short-legged friends. According to an animated promotional video BMW released, the PAS, or Progressive Activity Sedan, is exactly the car for that sort of person.

The PAS is designed for people who need to carry a lot of cargo but find a wagon has "too much utility" and a sedan "not roomy enough." Apparently SUVs such as the X5 are too difficult to climb into; making them impractical for people who take business clients out. BMW clearly hasn't realised that these executive types would probably have bought a 7-series to ferry their partners around.

BMW has also came up with a new term, the "semi-command seating position" as a way of explaining that the PAS is higher than a 5-series, on which it is based, but lower than the X5. This semi-command seating position (surely this gets tiring to say after awhile) allows for "easy entry and greater visibility".

BMW claims the car has coupe-like styling despite being a four-door sedan with a hatchback boot. Clearly lessons from the X6 haven't been learnt. The wheelbase has been stretched to increase interior space allowing for adjustable rear seats. The seats are able to slide forwards to create more luggage space and backwards to increase rear passenger legroom. In the video, something about economy class and first class in an airplane was mentioned, but I sorta lost interest by then.

So, the company that brought us the Sports Activity Coupe (X6) has now introduced to the world another car that we don't need, to a market that probably doesn't exist. Credit crunch? What credit crunch?