Speaking to Britain’s Auto Express earlier this week, Carsten Pries remarked that the brand needs to focus on producing vehicles relevant to a global market that are based on popular models.
“If you put something like an ‘M1’ on top of (the M135i), working title of course, you would have to increase the price again because you put more substance into it. But whether this would then be a smart business proposition is not something I would answer with an immediate yes,” Pries told the publication.
His comment seemingly confirms those of newly appointed M boss, Markus Flasch, who told Autoblog this past weekend that no plans are in place to produce a rival for the Mercedes-AMG 45 S whose 2.0-litre turbocharged engine will deliver 310 kW/500Nm. At present, the M135i offers the same displacement engine, but with outputs of 224kW/450Nm.
“On principle, there is nothing wrong with such a project; even the DTM races with four cylinders now. But in the near future, we have nothing planned,” Flasch told the online platform.
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