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What's the goal of every corporation? Is it not to make money? Not only that, but making more money than the year before?
We, as BMW enthusiasts, are the proverbial drop in the bucket of BMW's revenue. You can't "whore" out a BMW, for "whoring" would indicate something that can be acquired rather cheaply. There's absolutely no chance of this new line of BMW cars to dilute the "M" brand. In this economy, where the narrow slice of the american population who can actually afford these cars are shrinking further, M enthusiasts have little to worry about.
We are the outsiders looking in and have no idea what BMW's balance sheet looks like. We automatically assume that they're making cash out the *ss, such new lines are unnecessary. I think we'd be wrong in that aspect. It's safe to say that the luxury market isn't get any bigger, but it's certainly getting ever more competitive. There is only one way for BMW to win more market share: by taking from its competitors' share. This is why the new 5 series is more 'Lexus-like' according to many reviews.
The introduction of the M Performance line is to differentiate luxury from sport. When people think BMW, they think 'sport' first, luxury a distant second. To increase profits and remain competitive, this perception has to change. Why are we so upset? This will not add confusion, but rather, it adds more choices. It's safe to say that the base models of the 5 and 7 series (as well as other models that are not entry-level) will be the most luxurious/least sporty. Instead of just offering a sport package in the past, there will be a separate line. This is a win!! How many times have we searched for BMWs (when buying/leasing), and we find one that's about perfect .. but no sport package. Isn't it infuriating? Now, that won't be an issue. If I'm looking for another 335i, I will just look for '335im' or whatever, because I know that it will have the performance that I'm seeking.
Heritage means nothing when it comes to marketing a product. Heritage can lead you to bankruptcy if you refuse to adapt to the current environments. There's a lot of people here jumping to conclusions that this announcement will dilute the current 1M/M3/M5. As someone has pointed out pages ago, isn't it conceivable that the new ///M series will actually have **more** focus on performance? For example, the next M3 may be significantly lighter due to deletion of luxury features and gadgets, with a stiffer suspension, making the M3 perform closer to the M3 GTS. Get the idea?
Let's give BMW some time before making presumptions that this is the end of the ///M era. For we could all be wrong, and may be the beginning of something newer, faster, stronger, more visceral ///M experience ...
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