BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen says the marque has no interest in pursuing an LMP1 program.
The German manufacturer ended its Formula 1 project at the end of 2009, and has increased its sports car participation through the M3 GT car this season. But Theissen says BMW's presence at Le Mans – 11 years after its only victory in the 24 Hours – will not lead to it producing a prototype in the near future.
"You really can't compare an LMP1 project with Formula 1, in terms of resources and in terms of budget," Theissen said. "F1 has come down quite significantly in the last three or four years, and LMP1 has now come close.
"Then if you compare F1, with 20 races worldwide, and LMP1, which focuses on the 24 Hours – there are some other races, Petit Le Mans, Sebring, but in the end it's about Le Mans. So you spend quite a significant chunk of money on one race."
He added that BMW's motorsport involvement now centers around racing cars it can sell to customers, both in racing and as road cars.
"The other issue is that the BMW board decided to focus on production racing for marketing reasons – this is GT and touring cars, not prototypes," Theissen said.