Overview
- BMW M CEO Frank van Meel says up to 30 new or updated M and M Performance models will launch in roughly the next two and a half years.
- The rollout spans gasoline, plug-in hybrid and fully electric variants, with electrified M Performance cars gaining traction in markets with steep CO2 taxes such as France’s €18,000 levy on an M2.
- Van Meel argues manuals limit torque and worsen fuel consumption, and he warns developing new high-capacity stick shifts is unlikely given weak supplier interest.
- He expects three-pedal offerings to be viable for only the next couple of years, saying it will be difficult to keep them alive in the next decade.
- Despite electrification, BMW M plans to retain six- and eight-cylinder engines for customers and regions where charging remains challenging, building on record 2025 sales of 213,457 cars.