Cars Interest: BMW ready to make an AMG Project One hypercar rival

The BMW i Vision concept previews the brand's future design direction

Once the go-ahead is given, the project can commence, according to BMW vice-president Dirk Hacker

BMW’s M division is ready to make a Mercedes-AMG Project One-baiting hypercar, should it get the go-ahead from the firm’s vice-president, Dirk Hacker. However, there are currently no plans to do so.

Mercedes-AMG revealed the Project One at the Frankfurt motor show, with the £2 million hypercar set to go on sale in 2019. It is powered by a modified version of the marque’s 1.6-litre engine and, combined with its hybrid system, produces 992bhp.

“We would like to do a standalone car and we could do it - but today there is no requirement from the market to do it,” said Hacker. “As a company, we are more focused on future mobility than digitisation than building a hypercar, to be honest, but if we came to the decision to do a super sportscar, then we could do that.”

BMW is known to have asked several leading teams - including some with Formula 1 know-how - to evaluate a LMP1 return in order to race at Le Mans in recent years, but it is believed to have settled on racing more production-specific models in lower classes, while putting its works focus and budget on the all-electric Formula E championship.

Hacker conceded that an electrified halo car could have some appeal, but stressed that any such hypercar would be some way off production. “Formula E could be interesting for us. M cars have roots in racing,” he said. “It will be an interesting challenge as more OEMs get involved and there could certainly be the opportunity for some input from our engineering department in the series.”

BMW has pledged to have 12 fully electric cars on sale by 2025, meaning the gathering pace of BMW’s electric car launches could open an opportunity to launch a halo electric vehicle.