Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sports/GTs, Green, Supercars, BMW
No Audi R8 competitor coming from BMW
Click for a hi-res gallery of the BMW M1 Hommage
It's a sign of the times. After having rolled out the delectable M1 Hommage concept (pictured above), one BMW board member says that the Bavarian automaker has no intention of producing a supercar to compete with the likes of the Audi R8. Instead, BMW will focus on green technologies.
The news comes straight from Klaus Draeger, the board member at the helm of the EfficientDymanics initiative. While Audi continues to produce more powerful and more desirable versions of the R8, Mercedes prepares entirely new supercars and Porsche continues to do what Porsche has always done, the company that once hailed itself as the producers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" is more concerned with hybrids than sportscars.
Gallery: BMW M1 Hommage
[Source: AutoTelegraaf via AutoblogGreen]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike 8:34AM (8/25/2008)
"...the company that once hailed itself as the producers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" is more concerned with hybrids than sportscars."
As they should be...have you seen the gas prices in Europe, never mind the USA?!
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zamafir 9:39AM (8/25/2008)
Audi's building hybrids, and the R8, and a host of other cars which keep getting better with every revision. BMW keeps watering them down and giving us cars like the X6 or 'innovations' like idrive. Something is amiss.
3seriesisking 11:22AM (8/25/2008)
Thanks Mike,
BMW builds great cars...period. Just because they aren't going to be putting out a low-sales number model like the R8 doesn't mean they don't live up to their Ultimate Driving Machine slogan.
To be honest, I'm a little disappointed in Autoblog for using that type of rhetoric "Once hailed itself"...come on guys....
If oil prices don't change for the better, there won't be a market for the R8 or any competitor thereof. So why rip on a car company for trying more productive markets in harsh economic times?
PJ 12:21PM (8/25/2008)
So, not having an R8 competitor makes BMW, as a brand, less sporting and dynamically competent than Audi?
I think anyone who's driven an A4 and a 3-Series (or an A3 and a 1-Series, or an A6 and a 5-Series, or...) would argue with that. Halo cars are one thing, but in terms of its core products, BMW is still very much walking its talk.
Frank 8:41AM (8/25/2008)
I think its a good move, its better to appeal to everyone than to just a select few. Besides if anyone can make hybrids fun, its BMW.
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psarhjinian 8:43AM (8/25/2008)
Oh, yes, because going fast is the only measure of an ultimate driving machine.
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Marty 8:49AM (8/25/2008)
Exactly. I'll take fifteen cupholders over driving dynamics anyday.
BigMcLargeHuge 9:14AM (8/25/2008)
Yeah, and?
I personally find 'boring' and 'ultimate' in contrast to each other when talking about a driving experience.
kydiwl 9:12AM (8/25/2008)
baaaaa
I am green.
baaaaa
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Brian 9:15AM (8/25/2008)
"...the company that once hailed itself as the producers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" is more concerned with hybrids than sportscars."
Not that you were in the board meeting at BMW discussing the company's focuses, or anything.
BMW may not be AS concerned with building a fresh-from-the-ground-up male inadequacy compensation machine as other mass manufacturers (Audi and Mercedes) who have historically had less sports car DNA in their models than BMW puts into EVERY vehicle it produces.
I, too, am disappointed at the missed opportunity to possibly drive/purchase a modern interpretation of the M1. However, for the greater good of the rock we live on, I think I'll get by just this once.
It's a sign of the times...
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zamafir 9:42AM (8/25/2008)
Give me a call when anything BMW produces can match the R8 on the track. Thanks for playing.
M84 10:49AM (8/25/2008)
Zamafir,
BMW did make something faster than the R8. 5 years ago (M3 CSL). Compare ring times, use the tool on fastestlaps.com (as suggested by rmc), and then go 'play' whatever game you want while reading the latest edition of Motor Trend in your bathroom.
JEziquiel 9:29AM (8/25/2008)
Its good to see a company keeping its focus on the long term, instead of building monuments to hubris in the short. Now if they could just do something about part costs...
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Son Of a Beach 9:52AM (8/25/2008)
BMW has always had a sporting bent, and designs all its vehicles from the ground up with this baked in. That's not going to change. The fact is, advancing the technology to reduce their carbon footprint not only should be their top priority, it should be every manufacturer's. But there will always be people out there who bitch and moan about BMW not doing this or that, as well as the usual BMW haters. They're a little pathetic, when you get right down to it.
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rsfourever 10:32AM (8/25/2008)
"BMW has always had a sporting bent, and designs all its vehicles from the ground up with this baked in."
are you seriously trying to make the argument that the X6, X5 or X3 were designed from the ground up with "sporting bent baked in"? if you really believe that, i've got a bridge in brooklyn i want to sell you...
BigMcLargeHuge 9:53AM (8/25/2008)
Let MINI do hybrids.
They sell like crack,
there's got to be plenty of profit to re-invest in that line of cars.
Like we really needed the X6?
Yeah sure, make a heavy fast crossover and then complain when your company needs to cancel a mid-engined car to stay green.
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rmc 10:28AM (8/25/2008)
Brian is right.
R8 and MB supercars are part of PR (advertising) budget - their respective producer simply NEED such vehicles to push A4's and C's - Halo cars, when (if) BMW people decide they need a money-loosing-but-superfast-technology-showcasing-billboard-on-wheels for PR they will absolutely build something as much better than competitors as their current products are... I'll be very glad to see it, but BMW is in a business of making money so...
... and zamafir should really check fastestlaps.com more often - not bad for heavier 4-seating coupe, let alone an old CSL
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rsfourever 10:37AM (8/25/2008)
"a money-loosing-but-superfast-technology- showcasing-billboard-on-wheels"
you do know that Audi is making money hand over fist on every R8 it sells, right?
TRAVIS D 11:53AM (8/25/2008)
who says a hybrid has to be slow and ugly like a prius? i hope BMW pursues Hybrids/Electric and in 10 years or so while their perfecting it, all the other brands will be racing to catch up once the good o'l government steps in with its CAFE standards. nothing like the instant torque of electricity powering my ultimate driving machine.
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wagonphile 11:56AM (8/25/2008)
I could care less whether BMW "goes green" or not, I'm just glad I won't be seeing anything similar to that hideous M1 Hommage on the road. For those who like shock value in their sheetmetal, it was certainly different. For those with aesthetic sensitivity, it appears a total mess. BMW was once my favorite auto manufacturer, with awesome performance, great balance, and handsome styling. Now they're tarted up with too many gizmos inside and aren't worthy of a backward glance after you shut the door and walk away.
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