After BMW auto transport withdrew from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season, the automaker announced it would focus its motorsports efforts on production-based series. BMW announced this week that its board had approved a return to competition in the German Touring Car Championship (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM)) starting in 2012, provided certain conditions are met. Exactly what those conditions are is unclear right now, but they likely involves some rules changes.

While BMW has been competing in other touring car classes including the World Touring Car Championship, it has not appeared in the DTM since the mid-1990s. Currently only Audi and Mercedes-Benz compete in DTM.

Technical development has begun on the DTM car and it will be based on the M3. With a 2012 DTM launch, BMW will likely use the next-generation M3, which is expected to debut sometime in 2011. The current M3 already competes in GT2 in North America and Europe and BMW recently launched a GT3 class Z4 racer.