Despite all the new vehicles BMW->ke178 is rolling out, an M7 will not be one of them. That’s right, the Germans feel the 7 Series->ke323 doesn’t need the M-division touch in order to compete with the likes of the Mercedes-AMG S63 or S65. Rather, BMW is leaving the high-speed stuff up to the [Alpina B7.

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The news comes from BMW’s director of product planning, Paul Ferraiolo, in an interview with MotorTrend at the LA Auto Show.->ke211 “We feel really good with what we've got with Alpina,” Ferraiolo says. "The 'M' adds sort of a track-element to that, and I don't know if there's a lot of demand for the 7 Series on the track."

It’s rather easy to be put off by a statement like, “I don’t know” from a product planner in regards to potential demand and viability. Low demand for an M product seems like an oxymoron. Either way, it doesn’t appear BMW will change using Alpina as its performance arm in the 7 Series luxury game.

In spite of this, Ferraiolo says the slew of new products from BMW is far from over. He said this in regards to filling niches between vehicle segments. “ an ongoing process. When we see something that could work, we go after it, so it's not something that has a finite ending when we run out of numbers. The market is always evolving and we're always looking how we can exploit the market."

Seems like an odd statement to make after passing up the M7 idea.

Note: Alpina B7 pictured here.

Click past the jump to read more about BMW's future product offensive.

Why it matters

While BMW doesn’t have a history of making an M7, the hole in the market still exists. That hole grows ever larger in the light of the Mercedes-AMG S63 and S65. Alpina offers some great products that boast improved performance, but they lack that M-division touch. It just seems as if BMW is choosing to not pursue this market.

Alpina B7

The Alpina B7 is an upgraded version of the 7 Series. It includes bumps of 40 horses and 22 pound-feet of torque overt the standard V-8-powered 7 Series, giving it a total of 540 horses and 538 pound-feet. Hitting 60 mpg from a stop takes just 4.3 seconds and the B7 enjoys a greater top speed of 194 mph.

Pricing for the B7 starts at $127,000 and goes up from there.