MULTIPLE CHOICE

ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS OH SO EASY TO FOLLOW a manufacturer’s model strategy: there was the small one, the slightly bigger one and the grand fromage at the top of the pile. You might get a spin-off or two, but it was generally pretty straightforward. And then the product planners discovered niches and before long convention was thrown out of the window and the high-performance people carrier was born (remember the AMG R63?) and limos were setting lap times. All very strange.

In the world of BMW M, more niches have been avoided than exploited, the focus trained on delivering coupes and saloons