The good news is that BMW is planning more M models. The kind of bad news is that they may not be full-on M cars. That's the takeaway from BMW chairman Harald Kruger, who spoke recently at the company's annual accounts press conference. Kruger said that he "would close any gaps in the M portfolio." Yes, closing gaps means making new models but said new models are easier to make when they are M Performance cars. The difference between M and M Performance is the difference between the M2 and the M235i.

Building a full-fledged M car can't be cheap, despite the high demand for such vehicles. A nice compromise is the M Performance line which lets buyers up the capabilities of their cars without shelling out a ton of extra cash. The aforementioned M235i has an MSRP of $44,150 which is over $10,000 more than the normal 2 Series (MSRP $32,850). Yeah, the M2 has a base price of $51,700 which is not a sizable gap over the M235i, but from the standard 2 Series it's massive. Basic pricing aside, M cars aren't made in as much abundance as M Performance models, meaning they can't be trusted to be cash cows. Offering too many full M cars would dilute the models' appeal.

Kruger knows that BMW's crazier cars aren't cheap which is why he's aiming to milk the most profitable letter in the alphabet for all he can get. "The evolution [of high-margin segments] will continue to fund the revolution," he said.