As one half of the joint-venture sports car codeveloped with Toyota, BMW's Z4 successor has been one of the most hotly awaited models of the last few years. Originally expected to be called Z5, Autocar now says the two seater will hold on to its current name when a concept version of it bows at California's 2017 Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance in mid-August.

The UK publication says the reason the model won't progress numerically is because BMW's alphanumeric nomenclature calls for even numbers on performance cars.

The 2019 model-year sports car is expected to bow as a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive roadster, with Toyota developing a fixed-head coupe model off the same architecture, which will likely be called Supra. An available hybrid powertrain option has long been rumored, but remains unconfirmed.

The dynamic duo are expected to be assembled in Austria by well-known contract builder Magna, and BMW's version is expected to go on sale in 2018, hot on the heels of the production 8 Series, a new range-topping two-door previewed by the Concept 8 Series revealed last week.

This new Z4, codenamed G29, will be the third generation of the car, which first entered production in 2002. Production of the current E89 generation shown here, which debuted way back in 2009, ceased in June of 2016.

BMW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.