While rivals Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport have done just that, with the SLS AMG, AMG GT and R8 respectively, BMW‘s M Division has no intention of creating a sports car of its own in what would be a first since the 1981 M1 supercar.

According to BMW Group director of sales and marketing, Dr Ian Roberston, BMW M is simply too busy to develop and produce its own model, reports Motoring.

“We have no plan for a standalone M car, like Audi or AMG. 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,” Robertson confirmed.

According to the BMW exec, M did ponder creating its own sports car but the automaker ultimately decided to create a halo model for its i range in the form of the i8. “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. The i8 is a completely new interpretation of sports cars. We should never confuse that”, he noted.

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