BMW Backs Away From Z2 Sports Car Leaving MX-5 Unchallenged

The Z2 should instead become a Triumph TR and be sold through Mini dealers.

I don't get it. BMW does a great job with sport cars and a mediocre on luxury. They should keep working on all sport cars and give the second place to the luxury cars but instead they are doing the opposite.

The segment is not worth the battle.

You're wrong. The $30-40K sports car market is hotly contested and people in that payment bracket are NOT brand conscious but deal conscious.

A Triumph TR made by BMW could singlehandedly beeotch slap the Miata and the FRS/BRZ and siphon off Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger sales.

Disagreed. The Miata is not in the $30-$40K "sports car" segment. People paying $30K for a Miata don't care about the "sports" description, and is specific to the unique segment looking for an impractical 2 seater convertible. Even if BMW dominated Miata's segment, it wouldn't be worth all the costs associated with the Z2 production. If BMW took 30% of Miata's market (a tiny tiny market mind you), it would not make a dent in its bottom line. Miata does NOT compete with the BRZ/FRS; the Miata is not being cross-shopped by prospective BRZ buyers. It's a unique segment that's small but fiercely loyal - the worst segment for a newcomer to break in to because it's just too small to matter. BMW would do better to improve the Z4 vs. Boxster vs. 4C battle. The $30K Miata segment is a great niche for a small producer like Mazda, but not worthwhile for BMW. BMW's Mini 2 seater Coupe was a total fail; it's not about to repeat that mistake by making it topless.

@quizz If either the Miata or the FRS had real power for the price, their sales would be MUCH higher. They don't sell well because they are not compelling as sports cars is the issue. In that price segment people will cross shop an FRS with a GTI with a Cooper S with a Mustang Ecoboost. That segment is NOT brand driven but price driven.

They should do the Z2, and then update it every few years and make it bigger, heavier and more expensive until no one buys one anymore. Oh wait, they already did that.

Platform share with the Mini Superlegerra. Add a hybrid option. The Triumph would also be an interesting option as well!

Stop with the triumph silliness. They're not going to intro a new model, and then not leverage the brand name and equity they've spent a gazillion dollars building.

Oh I don't know, it could be done under the mini banner. I think GM should do something similar. Bring back the best of GM's history and maybe have two or three sales banners. It would kind of be like giving a car a first and last name. The GM Pontiac GTO and Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile 442 etc..