Frank van Meel, the person in charge at the luxury German automaker, BMW, has decided to spill some beans on probable future vehicle lineups from the company. The BMW chief has revealed this during the 2015 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) event that is taking place at Detroit, US.
As reported by the Autocar, the BMW chief reveals that there is a spot that has been made available for the company’s 1-Series M Coupe model. Frank van Meel also mentions that he is excited to do something for the slot in the future. A number of automotive market analysts out there believe that Frank van Meel can only mean about the successor to the 1-Series M Coupe, which will supposedly be the BMW M2 Coupe. After all, the latter has been spotted undergoing factory tests before. The car will reportedly make its debut when this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show opens its doors this oncoming September 2015. There are rumors that the vehicle will pack a turbocharged 3.0L 6-cylinder engine capable of 380 hp. In addition to that, the car will also feature quad exhaust pipes, considerably large brakes and a set of beefier wheels, all accompanied by a more aggressively looking body.
Quite interestingly, Frank van Meel has also revealed that there is actually a feasible business opportunity when it comes to building the X3 and X4 tandems, just like the case of X5 M and X6 M tandems. The upcoming M models from the German company will get an all-wheel-drive (AWD) drivetrain as an optional package whereas the standard variants will be backed up by a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) biased drivetrain. The traction control for the models will be enhanced so that understeer can be minimized.
Last but not least, the BMW chief also mentions the company’s plans to discontinue manual transmission variants since sales of vehicles with such transmission have been dropping constantly. Also, he advises against expecting an i model with an M badge. However, both will share similar technologies.
