Photo: BMW
What happens when the BMW community is desperate for a new, high-performance model and the company fails to deliver? Rumors appear. Crazy, unfounded rumors like those claiming a BMW i8S is in development or that the Germans plan to create a 9 Series Coupe range.
Sure, to some degree we wanted those to come true as much as the next guy but they simply didn’t seem feasible. Starting this month, new leadership will take over in Munich, and Dr. Norbert Reithofer will be stepping down.
According to Automobile Magazine, which allows current CEO, Harald Kruger and the new chief of development, Klaus Frolich to make some hard changes. They’re reporting that cars like the i8S, M8, 9 Series Coupe, Z2 Roadster and 2 Series Gran Turismo have already been axed.
What surprises us about this claim is the boldness with which it is made, since none of those cars have ever been anything more than a rumor. A rumor that was invented by the media, nonetheless.
First of all, an i8S wouldn’t be possible as the officials were adamant in denying rumors of a possible blend of the M and i divisions on more than one occasion. Second, the M8 couldn’t happen because there’s no 8 Series to be based on at the moment.
Sure, the enthusiast crowd will quickly listen to such rumors as they are a BMW fan’s wet dream but the harsh reality is that the Bavarian marque is far from creating a supercar these days.
Moving on to the Z2 Roadster that seemed like a more viable variant, especially after we saw a mule for its drivetrain out testing. However, that same drivetrain could be used for a bigger model, like the upcoming Z5 that should replace the current Z4.
To top it all off, the 2 Series Gran Turismo is just a different name for the 1 Series Sedan. While the 1 Series Sedan was already seen testing, creating the 2 Series Gran Turismo really would make any sort of sense so development on it probably never even begun.
Google News