BMW i4 M Was The Best Selling M Model Last Year

Even though it’s not technically a full M model, BMW was proud to announce this sales milestone.

By: Andrei Nedelea

Jan 14, 2023 at 9:12am ET

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BMW put an M badge for the very first time on the i4 and created the 544-horsepwer i4 M50. And it seems to be a success story for the Bavarians as the automaker just announced that it also happened to be the best-selling M-badged model in 2022, outselling more traditional models like the M3, M4 and all the M-badged SUVs.

The manufacturer says it sold 177,257 M-badged vehicles in 2022, an 8.4 percent increase year-over-year. And the most important market for its M models was still the US, where it says it managed to sell over 15,000 EVs (including non-M models) last year, marking a 4.7 percent increase compared to 2021.

According to Franciscus van Meel, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW M, “the enthusiasm of the M community for emotionally powerful performance on the road and on the racetrack has carried us through the entire anniversary year. This is also expressed in a new sales record for BMW M automobiles, which gives us a positive outlook for 2023.”

This year the manufacturer will begin rolling out two more important electrified models bearing the M badge: one is the i7 M70, which will be the hottest electric version of the new 7 Series, while the other is the XM super SUV (a plug-in hybrid, not a full EV), which we got an early look at last year and which will enter production this year at BMW’s Spartanburg plant in South Carolina.

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And BMW has big plans for future electric M models. We recently covered a report which shed more light on the brand’s quad-motor powertrain that will find its way into future bespoke M EVs, previewed by a very cool looking i4-based prototype that we got to see via some very good photos sent to us by our spies.

BMW even shows this prototype doing a tank turn in the only promo video where it’s featured. We don’t know if this feature will make it to production, since there wouldn’t really be a use for it in the real world, but it shows what can be achieved with a four-motor configuration.

Source: BMW