Sales of convertibles like the Ford Mustang or Mazda Miata have fallen below 100,000 units per year in America. Many of the 20 or so roofless models you can buy are high-end cars with large engines, Ferraris, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis. But as BMW and other luxury automakers are chasing Tesla, how long before there’s an M4 electric cabriolet?
Right now, electric convertibles do exist, but they’re pretty… strange. The reborn Fiat 500 does come as a convertible, but it’s more like a big fabric sunroof. There’s also the Abarth version, the Smart EQ Fortwo Cabrio, the MINI Electric Convertible and that’s about it.
China has a pretty interesting car, the MG Cyberster, which looks like a BMW Z4. And there are a few European exotics potentially on their way, the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, Bentley’s EXP 12 Speed 6e, and the Polestar 6 which is supposed to rival the Tesla Roadster in 2026.
But what about the Germans?
Convertibles used to be a symbol of rebellious freedom, but that job now belongs to the SUV. Excluding the Miata, most convertibles are now a status symbol while also acting as a performance vehicle.
The BMW M4 Convertible does both jobs perfectly, which is partly why it’s more popular than a Z4. But the trouble is on the horizon. While the G80 family of performance cars has been highly successful, their whole platform may be changed when the “Neue Klasse” arrives in a few years.
We’ve discussed this at length already, but basically, BMW has a New Class platform. It’s been previewed as a concept and is supposed to replace the 3 Series with a retro-inspired electric sedan. There’s also a Neue Klasse SUV to replace the iX3.
At the moment, BMW is still fully committed to the internal combustion engines it’s known for. However, there’s still the possibility of an M4 or iM4 becoming the first-ever performance electric convertible (roadsters don’t count). Avarvarii created a very interesting preview of what BMW’s Neue Klasse M4 Convertible might look like. It’s angry enough to wear the M badge and it even resembles the iconic E30 M3.
And as for the 4-door version, he also rendered an M3 sedan. This is a car that’s almost certainly going to happen, but it will probably be called something like iM3 or i3 M60 so as not to upset the purists.
