It was designed as a response to an specification issued by the Reichluftministerium (RLM - Reich's Aviation Ministry) made in 1935 for an schnellbomber (fast bomber) able of tactical bombing.
Messerschmitt presented their design, a modified Bf.110 with a glazed nose to accomodate a third crew member, the bombardier.
A pre-order of 65 aircraft was placed. However, after three prototypes were made (plus another two which were never completed and their parts were used for the Bf.110C production), and tested against its most direct competitors, the Junkers Ju.88 (which won the specification) and the Henschel Hs.127, the pre-order was cancelled. The Bf.162 was the only one that wasn't a completely new aircraft.
The specification was won by the Junkers Ju.88, which was selected for mass production, and therefore the development of the Bf.162 ended. However, in order to promote disinformation tactics, photos of the Messerschmitt Bf.162 circulated widely across the German press of the time, captioned as the "Messerschmitt Jaguar", a name that was never used in any other German aircraft.
The RLM's official airframe designation, 8-162, was later re-used for the Heinkel He.162 jet fighter, most probably for disinformation purposes.
The Bf.162 was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB600Aa liquid-cooled inverted V12 piston engines which delivered 986hp of power each. Initially it was going to be armed (as the prototype never got any kind of weaponry installed on) with one defensive 7,92mm MG 15 machine gun placed in dorsal position behind the pilot, however, most likely, another one would've been installed in the nose for the bombardier to operate. Expected payload was 500kg (1102lb) internally and two 250kg bombs externally, under wings, in an overload configuration which, most probably would've required the replacement of the engines.
The first prototype was scrapped after trials in 1937, the second one was also used for towing the Messerschmitt Me.162 at Messerschmitt's Augsburg factory and the third one was delivered to Rechlin, the test grounds of the RLM, where its fate is unknown, however it was most likely destroyed, either in fire testing trials or enemy bombings.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_162
2. http://www.histaviation.com/Messerschmitt__Bf_162.html
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