For The Millionth Time, BMW Is Not And Will Not Be Building A Supercar

In case BMW didn't say so clearly enough last time, here you go.

BMW and McLaren have collaborated in the past on a supercar, and for some reason that historic connection seems to make everyone think that the two automakers are going to do it again. It’s either that or the fact that many fans tend to bunch BMW and Mercedes into the same lump of clay, and given that the Tri-Star is building both supercars and hypercars out of sheer need for dominance, the crowds expect BMW to follow suit.

Not so, said BMW Director of Sales and Marketing, Dr Ian Robertson in an interview with Motoring. While other automakers are using their talents to roll out dream machines that can lap the Nurburgring 0.00001 seconds faster than the competitor, BMW is chasing the dollars. Low volume supercars don’t tend to attract those too well. What does make money are the high-volume halfway sports cars, much like what BMW’s M Sport line produces. According to Robertson, M is way too busy working on those cars and tending to the current M flock to focus on a standalone supercar. “We have no plan at the moment for a stand alone M car, like Audi or AMG,” said Robertson.

“M is simply too busy. If you look at M and the work it has done, a lot of the development has been with M Performance, and it’s the same with i and the plug-in hybrids over pure electric vehicles,” he followed, referencing how BMW’s i brand has also been quiet due to being busy electrifying the rest of the lineup. For those wondering why BMW’s M can’t just do both given that AMG is busy with the R50 hypercar, the AMG GT, and the bevy of AMG 43 and 63 models it has coming out, Robertson has another answer: he doesn’t want to jeopardize the i8 and all that it stands for.

The hybrid sports car is a symbol that BMW is focusing its efforts on the future, and to build a conventional supercar would be a step backwards. “I was clear with my mind that if we were bringing in an i8, we should not have another one based on it or competing with it from M,” claimed Robertson. “The i8 is a completely new interpretation of sports cars. We should never confuse that.” Like it or not, it appears that we’re stuck with BMW’s current crop of souped-up sedans, coupes, and SUVs. It’s not a bad thing considering how good cars like the M2 and X6 M are, but it sure isn’t as exciting as what’s going on at Mercedes’ AMG fiesta.

BMW Completely Rules Out Building A Pickup Truck

The fate of a German pickup now rests on VW and Audi.

Even though BMW has never sold a production pickup truck, the German luxury brand has built not one, but two prototype M3 pickups based on the E30 and E90 generation cars. Many markets, mainly Australia, have been begging BMW to build a pickup truck to rival the new Mercedes X-Class. Unfortunately, BMW has been hesitant, even calling the X-Class "appalling" in an interview.

At this year's 2018 Paris Motor Show, BMW told Motoring the bad news - a pickup truck isn't going to happen.

BMW development chief and board member Klaus Frohlich took responsibility for the decision saying, "I’m the bad guy." Even though BMW's Australian division has been begging the factory to build a pickup for years, Frohlich said: “I see no evidence that we can ever do a good proposition. If you look at the pickup market, it’s very much utilities, so median price points are very, very low. Every business case we did so far, it was by far not relevant. For us, the market segment is too small, because we are at the higher price level for pickups. The premium side of that market is extremely small [and] there’s only a few regions of the world – Australia is one of them.”

The development costs of a BMW truck would just be too high and the benefits too small. Mercedes saved costs by basing the X-Class on the Nissan Navara platform. BMW has already partnered with Toyota to build the Z4/Supra, so the idea of a Hilux-based BMW truck was also floated but Frohlich said: “We will never do something badge engineering."

Sorry to anyone who was holding out for a production version of the M3 Ute, but if you want one, you'll have to build it yourself.