For the past three years we have reported on the progress of a joint project undertaken by BMW and Toyota. The “progress” has been mostly rumors, a few facts, and some tantalizing spy shots of a camouflaged BMW roadster doing winter testing somewhere cold.
What we think we know for sure is that there is a BMW-Toyota partnership that will produce BMW’s replacement for the current E89 second-generation BMW Z4 roadster. Toyota will also build a completely different-looking version of the same car, rumored to be the resurrection of the Toyota Supra nameplate.
We know there will be a roadster because BMW Group CEO Harald Krüger said so. His exact words to Automotive News Europe were, “BMW has a long roadster tradition. We will occupy the segment once more. It's not big, but it's important for the strength of the brand.”
In the “guess the name” game for the BMW product, some industry observers are going with Z5, although there’s no real reason it could not still be called a Z4, since BMW kept the Z4 moniker when it came out with the second version of the Z4. If BMW was inclined to go with a Z3–Z4–Z5 scheme, it could have done so in 2009.
In the “guess the production year” game, Automotive News Europe is reporting sources that give 2018 as a year for the launch. That’s two years away and the company has been testing a new roadster for some months now, so 2018 could be right.
From the fluid world of “reliable sources” and “unnamed BMW spokespersons” comes word that at least one thing about the new roadster will remain the same as the current Z4 line: There will be no M version.
Autocar refers to a nameless BMW spokesperson who reportedly told them that the next roadster will be more of a cruiser and less of a Porsche rival so it won’t need the M treatment. We think it’s just as likely that BMW anticipates low sales numbers for a new roadster and is keeping its costs down by developing only a couple of models; perhaps one with a four-cylinder engine and one with a six. By adding a few off-the shelf M Performance parts, they could market a six-cylinder version as an M sport version, like the M235i was to the 2 Series.
Road & Track also claims to have interviewed the head of the BMW M2 team who confirmed that there will not be an M version of the next roadster.
Other reports indicate that whatever comes out of the BMW-Toyota partnership, the cars will be built in Graz, Austria by Magna-Steyr. Sure, why not?
With U.S. BMW sales slumping and worldwide BMW sales falling behind Mercedes-Benz, we are frankly surprised that BMW is moving ahead with a new roadster at a time when roadster sales have almost fallen off the edge of the planet. Surprised, but glad, since we agree with Herr Krüger that the company needs a roadster in the lineup, just for two-seat, top-down excitement and for brand image, if for nothing else.—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of Autoevolution.]
