No Hybrids Yet for BMW: Diesels to US in 2008

November 26, 2006 – Vol. 11 No. 36

NO HYBRIDS YET FOR BMW: DIESELS TO U.S. IN 2008.

Bavarian Motor Works marches to the tune of its own drummer. It doesn’t like to follow trends. It likes to make them – if it can.

While the rest of the auto industry had been driving down the hydrogen fuel cell lane, BMW said no, if hydrogen is the future it should fuel combustion engines, not be stuffed through a fuel cell to make electricity.

(The company still holds that belief and plans to have 100 BMW Hydrogen 7 luxury sedans that run on hydrogen or gasoline and be available for lease sometime in 2007.)

Now, while other companies are pursuing more hybrids, particularly for the US market, BMW is saying no again: We’re going to bring clean and efficient diesels to the lucrative States instead. The US is BMW’s single strongest market.

The company has announced it will have diesel engined cars available in the US market for the 2008 model year that will meet emission standards in all 50 states. (Yes, that means California and states that have adopted California emission standards can have BMW diesels too.)

BMW has not mentioned which models will be available with clean diesels, but with few exceptions diesels are currently offered throughout the model line in markets outside the US. In Europe its diesels make up 67 percent of sales.

The availability of BMW diesels in the US in a year or so should be exciting news for drivers wanting to rid themselves entirely of fossil fuels and go biofuels. While BMWs diesels will certainly run on biodiesel (any diesel can) whether on not the company will honor new car warranties when its cars are run on biodiesel remains a question. ( BMW must be pondering this question behind closed doors as well if it wants to sell truly green cars.)

Further excitement could build around BMWs diesel-to-US-announcement: If BMW diesels are coming to the US, how long will it be before its Mini brand will show up in the states with a diesel under the hood? A 60-plus mile per gallon Mini would be very appealing.

Visit BMW at http://www.bmwusa.com/ http://www.miniusa.com/