What is going on at BMW, and why?
First there was news out of Germany last week that BMW had decided not to compete against the Audi R8. The reason was simply because there was no need to pursue such a small but visible sector of the market. Audi scores 1 and the BMW bean counters score a 0. So with a simple slash of the cost cutting knife, the future of a possible M1 rebirth has been cancelled for the foreseen future.
Now BMW has never been know to give up a good fight, and in days gone by the R8 would not have gone unanswered. But something has changed for the worse.
Car Magazine out of the UK is now reporting today the yet another casualty of cost cutting has surfaced. The ultra high performance and light weight M3 CSL slated for summer of 2009 has also bit the proverbial dust.
Is BMW backing away from it’s performance heritage, the very soul of every one of its cars? Is this leaving the door for others to take the torch, and blaze a new path into the performance sector?
While we can’t say for sure what the future holds BMW for the rest of the year, the budgets are clearly are being affected to the point where the value of image cars for the brand are now in question.
Mark yet the passing of yet another still born dream, the M3 CSL.
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