BMW’s Porsche Cayman and Audi TT-RS rival is finally underway. And it will wear the M2 badge.

Auto Express has the word of BMW M Division’s new managing director, Dr Friedrich Nitschke on this. The M2 is due in 2015 and will be based on the new platform that underpins the 2 series.

The car will have the classic front-engine rear-drive layout, and as for the engine, BMW is considering two options. One is the 350 hp straight-six turbo out of the 1M Coupe, and the other a brand-new tri-turbo unit that will also be used in the X3M. It won’t however get a manual ‘box though, but the DCT semi-automatic transmission. It will share some of its parts with the current M3.

The M2 is the start of a new era for M division which will result in a revolutionary new M3 and a hyper car in the same league as Lamborghini Aventador, says the source.

source (& rendering): AutoExpress