I got the feeling the existing M was Canon reacting slowly to mirrorless, and when they eventually decided to join in, they wanted to get a product out faster (but still far later than everyone else), than get it out done well. They certainly have room for performance improvement and need to get competitive at least. To say they will aim for class leading is a bit of a challenge, one I'm not sure they will be able to reach. But for now we have to bare in mind it is a CR1 source saying that, not Canon.
Looking at the others, micro4/3 was slow AF when it first came out and they certainly sped it up. Same with Fuji. Can't remember about NEX, don't think they're that fast but they're not that bad either. And about the only good thing about the Nikon 1 was the AF, so that's more the exception than the rule. You would have thought that with Canon joining so late with the M they could have got it right first time...