BMW Confirms Three Cylinder Engine

It seems like BMW is keen to expand its business in the sub-compact automotive market, in an effort to bring its own vehicles to the small car playground, a segment where the German company’s only product was the MINI.

Last week, BMW’s chairman Norbert Reithofer confirmed that the carmaker will produce a front wheel drive vehicle, that will be placed under the 1 series. This will share its platform with the future generation of the MINI, due to be introduced in 2014, and will compete against cars like the Audi A1. The executive even tried to trick the media and the public opinion in an effort to smooth the new vehicle’s pathway, as you can read here.

Now, Reithfoler confirmed the fact that the premium German automotive producer is currently working on a three cylinder engine, as leftlanenews writes. The downsized powerplant will be part of BMW’s upcoming generation of engines that also includes new petrol & diesel four and six cylinder units. Most units form the new powerplant family are destined for the upcoming front wheel drive vehicle, but some will reach the automotive producer's traditional models.

BMW plans to produce 1.5 million new-generation engines per year. The figure might seem like a bold target, but it makes sense if we consider that the company previously announced its intentions to sell up to 1 million front wheel drive vehicles per year in the future. The figure will include the next generation of the MINI and the upcoming front wheel drive BMW model.