Just one month ago, a BMW executive kept the flame of hope for a new halo supercar alive, telling the world that we could trust that the company was working in the background to realize such a car—we’d just have to wait for “the right time.” It was one of those bare-minimum corporate responses in a way, because the company makes no commitments and keeps fans relatively satisfied by simply saying that it wants the same thing they do. Unfortunately, it also left the door open for someone like M CEO Frank van Meel to come in and burst some bubbles, which is what happened last weekend at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where the new Concept Speedtop debuted.
“We don’t want to lose focus on our high-performance cars because we do a super sports car,” van Meel was quoted during a panel organized by BMW Blog. “I must be honest; we are always dreaming about it. And maybe some day we find the right window of opportunity where we have the capacity to work on a car like that. And also, the company, BMW Group, says: ‘Ok, go for it.’ We never give up, I can promise you that, but actually, it’s not here yet.”
These comments are interesting because, on the face of it, van Meel is kind of just reiterating M’s known position on the matter, which is that he’d love to introduce a true, standalone supercar one day. But the point about losing “focus” on existing high-performance models, and finding the “right window of opportunity,” arguably puts that dream further out of reach.
BMW has its hands full right now, trying to reinvent its entire lineup with a new design ethos and the versatility to build new cars with every degree of electrification. And M, specifically, has the arduous task of keeping enthusiasts interested in battery-electric takes on their favorite models, like the M3. Consider the backlash Mercedes-AMG received when it started putting four-cylinders in cars that used to have V8s. The electric M3 probably won’t be quite as surprising a turn—BMW has been teasing it for quite a while now, slowly peeling back the curtain shrouding the car’s development—but it’s still going to face adversity, regardless of whether it’s accompanied by a version with an internal-combustion engine.
Factor in the same headwinds in China that every once-beloved German luxury marque is managing in that region, leading to a 37% dive in net profit over last year and, you know, everything happening with tariffs on this side of the world, and one thing appears to be clear: Now is definitely not the “window of opportunity” van Meel has been waiting for.
These are all problems BMW will have to address before that eventual halo supercar begins to make the transition from dream to reality. And if we’re talking about M’s responsibilities alone, it’s got to concentrate on establishing itself in the post-Neue Klasse era, with the diversity of powertrains it’s likely to offer. That very well should be the priority, as much as I’d love to see a modern take on the M1.
So, the next big standalone M car sounds like it’s a ways off. If it’s any consolation to the purists out there, I’d at least expect that it won’t be anything like the XM. That proved an expensive mistake you just can’t see a company as big and old as BMW making more than once.
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