Mention the BMW M3 and the first natural rival – historically, anyway – to spring to mind might be the Mercedes-AMG C63. But the head of the high-performance M division believes that another competitor is far closer to the M3 in terms of vehicle dynamics.
Yes, BMW M boss Frank Van Meel suggested to CarAdvice that the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde is the German performance compact executive sedan’s “closest” rival dynamically.
“Alfa Romeo with the new Giulia, they more or less followed the M3 completely as a concept, so for us it was really interesting to see how far they came. And I must say for me they made a really nice car,” Van Meel said.
“We say that we are the best; I have to say that and I am also convinced about that. The closest one regarding vehicle dynamics in that segment really is the Alfa – I think they did a very good job,” he added.
The M chief went on to identify a couple of other brands on which he was keeping a close eye.
“Of course, we look a lot at Porsche because with the X5 M the main competitor is the Cayenne, and we also look at Jaguar because they are also moving up and going strong into performance,” Van Meel told the Australian publication.
