In an interview with American magazine Car&Driver, Dr. Friedrich Nitschke, president of BMW’s M division, confirmed his company is considering an M-powered version of the BMW 7-Series to chase after Mercedes and Audi’s high-performance luxury sedans. A BMW M7 can heat up the battle in this segment and give its fellow German players from Stuttgart and Ingolstadt a hard time.

BMW is a bit late to the game though, they always are. Years and years after Mercedes launched the CLS they realized they need a four-door coupe as well, and decided to make the Gran Coupe, which still isn’t here. Audi were much quicker to come up with rivals for Mercedes. They couldn’t beat the Merc, but they tried.

BMW, however, can beat Mercedes. The reason they didn’t try the high-performance saloon market yet might be because they believed they already have a serious contender, the V12-powered 760. The thing is, the 760 is more of a luxury limo than a fire-breathing monster like the Mercedes S63. They need to dial up the ‘sport’ if they want to play in this field.

The M7 can be a hugely appealing car for those who don’t like the rather cheesy styling of the S-Class. Read the interview here: Car&Driver