BMW must be getting tired of being asked when it’s bringing out a new supercar – and no, the i8 hybrid doesn’t qualify. The fact remains that there hasn’t been a proper BMW supercar since the beloved M1. And that was 40 years ago. In the future, we’ll start to see a change in design direction from the Bavarian automaker. While new cars like the new G30 BMW 5 Series have been criticized for looking uninspired and too similar to its predecessor, BMW has recently shown off some genuinely stunning concepts like the 8 Series Concept and Z4 Concept.
Best of all, the production versions apparently should look very similar to the concepts. BMWBlog recently caught up with BMW’s new Head of Design Jozef Kaban to find out more about BMW’s new design direction and the possibility of a new supercar. Kaban joined BMW’s design team around a year ago after leaving Volkswagen where he worked on designing the Bugatti Veyron. Yes you read that right, the designer of one of the most iconic supercars ever made is Head of Design at BMW. BMW has often been criticized for producing models that are difficult to tell apart, but the plan is to introduce more distinctive models to broaden BMW’s line-up.
“With the portfolio of the brand, we’ve had [an opportunity] to talk to customers, and I think with this portfolio, we’re planning in the future to split them a little bit, to diverse them a little bit,” he said. This is great news for BMW fans. But is there any hope of BMW ever building a supercar, considering its Head of Design once worked on the Bugatti Veyron? “I came to BMW to help with other thinking, to give them another opportunity to think about [new] things.” he said. “BMW is doing great cars, maybe there is space to dream about the next [new car], maybe something more extreme.” By no means is this confirmation that a BMW supercar is happening, but it wasn’t a flat-out no, either.
BMW also recently revealed that it’s considering producing a more powerful version of the i8 coupe that could push the hybrid sports car into supercar territory.