[lemetier]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Not really since drop top M vehicles are very popular. The last M roadster sold well in its day for what it was (a low volume vehicle to begin with) - more so than the coupe, in fact. Today, we have the M4 convertible which also sells well. Furthermore, currently there is no M6 (and 6 series) coupe being sold in the US at all - just the convertible and gran coupe. And, finally, there is an M8 convertible in the works too.

Just to keep this on topic, in case people are waiting to pounce, I'd prefer if we don't turn this thread into a debate about how, despite being marketable vehicles, convertibles don't truly deserve the M label because they are too heavy/slow/girly/whatever.

The E89 wasn't "popular". Total production was down over 42% compared to the E85. The F83 does a decent amount but that is a different market segment. The F13 was axed as F06 ate most of it up. The F12 models will probably get the early axe as well.

Originally Posted by mkoesel

I suppose its a matter of perspective. Like I say, it was conceived as a low volume vehicle to begin with. On the other hand, sure, there is a reason why there was no E89 M and no G29-based M is currently planned either.

In any case, let's not forget that I was responding to this point:

As the numbers from the wikipedia page you linked to show, the roadster outsold the coupe in both the US and ROW. You point out that the coupe was not on the market as long. Ok, fair enough, but in any case, roadster sales made up a significant portion of the total volume. And since the two models shared many parts, without those sales, the situation goes from less than ideal to disastrous. So if we are saying that there is no business case for an M roadster, then a coupe-only effort would make even less sense.

I think the real problem lies here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Z4_(E85)#Production

Very telling. Once you take the performance of the M model out of the equation, coupe sales become a tiny fraction of roadster sales. So, its hard to justify the coupe to begin with. And, if there is no series coupe, obviously there can't be an M coupe either.

The E85/6 M's arrived at a very bad economic time that significantly impacted sales. The market didn't stabilize when the E89 arrived and continued to decline. The already high price would have made a Z4M too expensive (nearly as much as an M6 Conv). Without the Toyota Strategic Investment Agreement, the G29 would have been shelved. In fact, the decision to execute that portion of the agreement was not made until the very last minute.

It isn't hard to justify. The potential number of conquest/Loyalty/Upsell transactions over the M40i Roadster are catastrophically low. The fact that there IS a series coupe opens up an opportunity for those markets that have adopted the UNGTR's and are taking advantage of the free-trade agreements. An M Coupe would cost no more to bring to market than the Roadster and allows a unique positioning plan.

Originally Posted by supra93

I know there was a lot of back and forth on this, but are we still expecting the BMW to be a roadster only and the Toyota a coupe?

As far as the contract is concerned, those two are all it includes. If anything is added, it won't be for a few years.