Seeing into the longer term is a really uncommon present. Particularly when it’s about how one among your favourite manufacturers plans to develop and develop their efficiency automotive lineup. Catching up with Sylvia Neubauer—Vice President Buyer, Model, and Gross sales at BMW M—we realized that the G81 Touring isn’t coming to America. However it wasn’t all unhealthy information. Fortunately, there’s nonetheless quite a bit to be enthusiastic about at BMW M.
The State of the Handbook
“It’s a way of life assertion,” Ms. Neubauer begins when requested concerning the US guide take price. “It’s not, ‘oh yeah, I obtained the cheaper automotive, and it’s a guide,’ it’s an announcement…like a bragging factor.” She agreed with us once we mentioned the US market had the upper take price on manuals, however didn’t have precise figures to supply. However not every little thing will get a guide: “it will depend on the idea. The guide transmission is just not the right resolution for each phase.” And, don’t get it twisted—the lion’s share of M vehicles are nonetheless computerized.
That’s to not say BMW is breaking apart with the guide. Fairly the other, in actual fact: “there’s nothing ever closed perpetually,” Neubauer says when requested if BMW is closing the door on manuals. You most likely already knew, nevertheless it’s at all times good to listen to that BMW is dedicated to retaining the guide gearbox alive.
Supercar, or One thing Else?
Massive information is brewing at BMW: “there’s something on the horizon that I’m most likely not allowed to speak about,” Sylvia says when requested about what sort of innovation we will anticipate from BMW M going ahead. “Introducing a brand new idea to a market at all times comes with a little bit of a threat. There’s one very concrete mission on the horizon that we’re at present engaged on. I believe it is perhaps very interesting to many markets on the planet.”
Not a lot to go on, however perhaps it has one thing to do with that loopy electrical BMW prototype noticed a couple of months in the past. One factor it received’t be is a follow-up to the superior M8. Sadly, that automotive left manufacturing earlier this 12 months. Sylvia confirmed that the M8 “has no direct successor.”
M2 Will Be Extra Customizable—and Perhaps Ship Faster
“We all know that there’s a demand,” Sylvia says when requested about an expanded or Particular person coloration palette for the smallest M automotive at the moment, the M2. “San Luis Potosi is restricted to a sure variety of colours…and sure, there may be evaluation happening to open it up for extra Particular person colours.” Sadly, she stops a couple of phrases wanting confirming it, however at the very least know that they’re trying into it. BMW M can be optimizing the bigger Particular person ordering course of with the manager board of BMW Group, which could result in extra/faster choices.
Sylvia stunned us with a surprising statistic: one of the best promoting M automotive in 2024 was apparently the M2. After that, it goes, pretty predictably, M3 after which M4. “The M3 simply affords you every little thing,” she says. The “extroverts” choosing the “much less useful automotive that’s the M4 are a smaller goal group than the M3.”
M5 Manufacturing Surprises
Nearly universally, the brand new M5 stunned journalists as they climbed behind the wheel for the primary time. And seems, it had some surprises in retailer for BMW M, too. “Initially, our plan was to have two-thirds of the manufacturing over your complete [M5] lifecycle as a sedan and one-third as a Touring,” Sylvia begins. “We now see that there’s extra demand for the sedan, so we’ve elevated manufacturing there. However there’s much more demand for the Touring. So the rise on the Touring is way greater.” She claims manufacturing is cut up evenly at 50:50 in the mean time.
