When to performance divisions in the car world, Mercedes' AMG, Audi's RS, and BMW's M division are the three main players that come to mind, but who is really on top of this niche segment?
According to BMW's M division, the fact that it delivered 135,829 vehicles worldwide in 2019, makes them the "most successful manufacturer in its segment" of "performance/high-performance automobiles."
Technically speaking, Porsche moved 280,800 units throughout 2019, so we can imagine that BMW is using some creative maths to come to that "most successful" conclusion.
"We are very proud of the fact that we have been able to acquire market leadership in the performance/high-performance automobile segment for the first time in the almost 50 years of the company’s history," said Markus Flasch, boss of BMW M GmbH.
A breakdown of its deliveries shows that the United States was the biggest buyer of M vehicles with 44,442 purchased. Surprisingly, Germany slides in at second with 26,110 delivered, and then the UK with 17,688 units.
Interestingly, Switzerland was the largest buyer by percentage volume, as the small European country accounted for 22 per cent of all M vehicles purchased throughout 2019.
We can't see BMW's barrage of M vehicles stopping anytime soon either, as the updated X5 and X6 M models are set to release this year, as well as the M8 Gran Coupe and the M2 CS.
As for the M3 and M4 models, we're still waiting to see what they will end up looking like, but (thankfully) BMW has confirmed that the M3 is going to retain its rear-wheel drive power train and manual transmission in some models.
Alongside this great news, power figures upwards of 500hp (372kW) have also been hinted at, and we can't wait.