BMW BLOG

…into the U.S auto market. The crude oil prices surged to a record o f $127.82 a barrel last Friday and the forecast is not very promising. On May 16, the average retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline was an ultimate high: $3.79. 

Since some of the folks at BMWBlog live in the Chicagoland area, they have seen some of the highest prices in the country. A gallon of premium gasoline was selling for $4.65 in Downtown Chicago.

I think it's time for most of the car manufacturers, including BMW, to start looking at the possibility of giving us the option to purchase cars with smaller engines, following the European model.

I believe that in the near future we will some major changes in the direction of where the automakers are going. In October, BMW will release a 3 Series diesel version along with the gas-guzzler X5 that will be powered by a diesel as well. Even though the diesel prices are higher than petrol, having a better fuel consumption should help us all.

I have always been a big fan of large engines, powerful but recently I find myself thinking if the extra horsepower and torque are really worth it, maybe if I would live in Germania and drive on Autobahn with no speed limit every day, but since we don't have that luxury here, I  find myself in a tough position to justify that.

As we announced a while back, BMW is looking at the possibility of bringing some four cylinder engines into the U.S market and the 1 and 3 Series will be the first models equipped with these new engines.

The hybrid cars will be welcomed as well and hopefully BMW will release them sooner rather than later.  

Let me finish with a question: do you think it's too late for some major U.S cities to expand their public transportation system? We all know that there are some states where public transportation is almost inexistent.