BMW supercar – the unicorn of the BMW world and every fan’s dream. The topic of a BMW supercar pops up quite often and with every new generation of cars, a new rumor surfaces. And rightfully so since BMW’s only ever supercar dates as far back as 1978 when Giorgetto Giugiaro gave us the BMW M1. Today, the BMW supercar topic makes a comeback, thanks to an interview by Frank Weber, BMW Head of R&D, for WhichCar magazine.
The recently appointed BMW CTO talked about a wide range of topics, from new combustion engines to the next generation 3 Series and X3. Half way through the interview, the supercar topic came up in the context of a wide and deep BMW lineup which covers a lot of segments and customer demographics. The Australian magazine hinted to Weber that a “a fresh halo car along the lines of icons like M1, Z1, Z8 or i8” is missing from the BMW lineup.
Weber, of course, did not go into any details about their future plans, but did leave us with a hint: “We have no trouble at all picturing a highly-emotional model based on the New Class matrix,” said the BMW board member. And maybe now, more than ever, a BMW supercar with an electric drivetrain, makes a lot of sense. The NK platform – short for Neue Klasse – will open new possibilities for BMW in terms of car production processes, unique design and tech packaging. Therefore, a BMW supercar could be both highly emotional through a unique design, unparalleled in the BMW family of products, and through an electrified drivetrain to match the current market demands.
The BMW i8 halo car was phased out two years ago and even though it was never considered a supercar, it played an important role in the BMW marketing strategy for electrified products. It was and still is an emotional product with a timeless design and unique manufacturing processes. Its successor was shaping up to be just as exciting, but the BMW Vision M NEXT only lived shortly as a concept and showcar.
Yet, all these assumptions are based on the market conditions today and maybe in the future, a not-so-practical, two-door, exotic BMW halo car might not make a lot of sense. Instead, we could end up with cars in the BMW M lineup which offers unique looks among its peers, but also practicality and unparalleled performance. Truth is that the supercar of today might look significantly different in the future and that’s an interesting problem that BMW could choose to tackle on.
And even though Weber stopped short of outlining his vision for a BMW halo car, at least we know that the team in Munich is thinking about one.
