A two-cylinder BMW?
In an interview with German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, Dr. Klaus Draeger, member of the board of management in charge of development at BMW AG, said it is a possibility.
According to Draeger, the strategy would be to have small, highly-efficient power plants in future,front wheel drive compact BMW and Mini models instead of utilizing expensive
hybrid technology to keep emissions down.
Costly hybrid systems don't provide as much additional fuel-efficiency on a compact car as they do on larger vehicles and they wouldn't win back their investment with the low prices that compact cars sell for.
"Already in the 1-Series and 3-series the potential savings compared to larger motors is rather low," said Draeger.
For such engines, 500 cubic centimeters per cylinder is ideal, said Draeger. Hinting at a two-cylinder, 1.0 liter power plant for the future BMW front drive platform the brand will share with MINI. Draeger sees such a small engine being able to develop between 80 PS (59 kW) and 100 PS (74 kW) - ideal for that class of car.