When it comes to engines, “small but mighty” is the name of the game these days. Smaller displacements with more power and more efficiency is what consumers demand (and it’s also what new emissions regulations require).
So it’s no wonder that BMW is leading the push to mass produce an innovative new generation of modular gasoline engines and ultra-efficient diesels.
BMW has been selling an increasing volume of compact cars, and the premium automaker is in no way eager to see that demand diminish. In fact, BMW’s small and compact car sales last year totaled about 400,000 units, which is a substantial junk of the 1,286,210 vehicles the automaker sold last year.
“We expect the premium small-car segment to grow by 4 percent to 6 percent annually until 2020,” said BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer in a recent interview.
In the next few years, BMW will be producing millions of these smaller 3, 4, and 6-cylinder engines. The new engines will also find their way into BMW’s all-new front-wheel-drive architecture, as well as existing rear-wheel drive models.
Not only are smaller engines crucial, but volume is also important to maximize cost effectiveness.
“We will have to ask the question: What can we do on our own to create economies of scale? Once we have built our own modular platforms, we can approach others and ask them to participate,” Reithofer said.
While BMW hints at a possible partnership in the near future, others are already looking. In the coming weeks, a partnership between Daimler, Renault, and possibly Nissan may be established to provide the scale that Reithofer and others believe will ultimately help bolster the industry from another economic crisis.
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