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This confirms what we had already concluded given comments from past BMW M Division front men.
Sure, a high performance vehicle based on a FWD chassis is generally going to give up something in terms of dynamics to one based on a RWD chassis. But is it really better to punt entirely in this market than it is to come up with something that makes the best of the platform? Mercedes and Audi have answered that question with a resounding "No!".
Moreover, BMW has been hyping the flexibility of their vehicle architectures - including the FAAR architecture that the 1 Series and 2 Series Gran Coupe are built on - with specific regard to ease with which they can support not just hybrid drive but pure electric drive as well. So, why not jump in here and develop a high performance electric sedan that is smaller than any that exist or are coming in the near future? Not only would that give you a USP, but a dual motor electric drive setup would (at least in theory) allow for a RWD biased all wheel drive setup or even (again, in theory) a single motor true RWD setup in vehicle class that was here-to-for burdened with a FWD-biased Haldex system at best. BMW seems to be trying to convince us that such a possibility is just a matter of simple plug-and-play. So let's see it BMW.
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