The decline in sales for diesel-powered cars, coupled to the increasing interest in the new gasoline hybrid technologies has prompted German manufacturer BMW to follow in the footsteps of other European brands and decide against offering new diesel cars as of the 2019 model year.
The news was somewhat confirmed by the carmaker, and the confirmation was shared first by Autoblog, citing a statement from an unnamed BMW spokesperson.
"BMW of North America has seen a decrease in diesel sales and at the same time has seen dramatic sales growth for plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology and strong demand for performance-oriented gasoline engines," the spokesperson was cited as saying by the source.
Not only BMW of North America has seen a decrease in diesel sales, but most industry observers noticed that too. For months, if not years, this choosing gasoline or hybrids over diesel is a trend that becomes more and more mainstream.
The BMW diesel offering in the U.S. was not that great to begin with, at least not this year. Currently, the only such car available to buy in America is the 3 Series 328d.
This model, as does the entire series, is on its way out, as the new generation of the model is just around the corner. Historically, whenever a new BMW is launched, the Germans throw in the gasoline first, and only then, if need be, diesel is added to the offering.
This essentially means that for a while at least there will be no new diesel-engined BMWs on the American market.
In fact, there will be no other European manufacturer selling diesel in the U.S. aside for Jaguar Land Rover, according to the 2018 Fuel Economy Guide. The group still sells diesel-powered F-Pace, Velar, Discovery and Range Rover Sport.
This doesn’t mean that, should buyers of the future opt more for diesel than any other powertrain, BMW and the others will not backtrack on their decision.
"BMW of North America has seen a decrease in diesel sales and at the same time has seen dramatic sales growth for plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology and strong demand for performance-oriented gasoline engines," the spokesperson was cited as saying by the source.
Not only BMW of North America has seen a decrease in diesel sales, but most industry observers noticed that too. For months, if not years, this choosing gasoline or hybrids over diesel is a trend that becomes more and more mainstream.
The BMW diesel offering in the U.S. was not that great to begin with, at least not this year. Currently, the only such car available to buy in America is the 3 Series 328d.
This model, as does the entire series, is on its way out, as the new generation of the model is just around the corner. Historically, whenever a new BMW is launched, the Germans throw in the gasoline first, and only then, if need be, diesel is added to the offering.
This essentially means that for a while at least there will be no new diesel-engined BMWs on the American market.
In fact, there will be no other European manufacturer selling diesel in the U.S. aside for Jaguar Land Rover, according to the 2018 Fuel Economy Guide. The group still sells diesel-powered F-Pace, Velar, Discovery and Range Rover Sport.
This doesn’t mean that, should buyers of the future opt more for diesel than any other powertrain, BMW and the others will not backtrack on their decision.