Hopes revived for electrified modern-day BMW M1

In 2019, BMW showed off the outlandish Vision M hybrid supercar concept as an indication of what to expect from its electrified sports cars — and at the time, it was tipped to enter production asa spiritual successor to the first bespoke M car, the M1.

Shortly after, reportsbegan to circulate that theproject had been cancelledover concerns about R&Dcosts and low sales potential.

The division later revealedthe Concept XM SUV as apreview of its actual next stand-alone M car.

However, BMW bossesremain receptive to theprospect of more bespokeM models, which potentiallyopens the door for revisitingthe super car concept.

Frank van Meel said: “It’salways something we canlook at. As car guys, we arealways dreaming of makingsuch cars. It doesn’t meanwe’ll make them, but wekeep exploring those ideas."

The fact that the VisionM never came to fruition “doesn’t mean we’re notthinking of a super-sportscar’’, he said. “I’m alwaystrying to figure out how it[would] work."

Ultimately, the moremainstream XM won out andvan Meel said a supercar isn’tabsolutely vital for M because“we don’t need to prove weare a sporty company".

Headded: “It was notpriority number one, butfrom the heart it always has ahigh priority ,and that’s whatwe are always looking at."