BMW BLOG

We knew that this is a possibility and we have heard BMW talking about this in their future roadmap, but when the news come from BMW North America President Jim O’Donnell, then we should it treat more than a rumor.

It is clear that the business environment has changed for all the car manufacturers and BMW cannot overlook that. It has been emphasized one more time at the LA Auto Show that BMW is putting most of their resources and efforts into the Efficient Dynamics technology and that we should expect more “clean” and eco-friendly vehicles in the near future.

As Mr. O’Donnell said as well, BMW had no plans for a diesel version of the new 7 Series coming to the States, but all the recent changes in customer’s buying habits and purchase mentality, are making the BMW 730d a perfect candidate for the US market. The 730d is powered by a 3.0L straight-six diesel engine outputing 245hp and it is one of the best sellers for BMW in the European market.

In a discussion with BMW Executives at the LA Auto Show, the diesel subject came up quite a few times and while the corporate lingo is the same, “we do not discuss future products”, some things did slip out, one of them being more diesel engines coming to the US in the future, including a 1 Series.

MotorAuthority cites Friedrich Eichiner, a BMW board member,  who mentioned that introducing a diesel variant of the 7-Series to the U.S. market was “a possibility”.

My personal opinion is that BMW will most likely base their decision on the newly introduced 335d and X5 Diesel sales and is also counting on the diesel-awareness campaign that other carmakers are promoting as well.

[Source: MotorAuthority ]