The UK government announced that it plans to ban the sale of internal combustion engines by 2030. That was a bold move from the authorities that had previously stated that the term would extend to 2035. Nevertheless, the increasing popularity of electrified cars definitely changed some optics. Car makers, such as BMW, have to adapt and it looks like diesel models will be the first to go, for a number of reasons.
The German company announced this week that a few of its models will not be available with a diesel mill under the hood any more. While this may seem like preparation for the future, it also has practical reasons behind it. Starting this month, the 2 Series Coupe and Convertible models will only be available for purchase with petrol engines. Mind you, this move won’t hurt BMW’s sales too much, as the current 2 Series is on its way out anyway and the petrol engines were predominantly picked over diesels any way.
Furthermore, in order to keep the diesel 2 Series on sale, BMW would have to invest heavily into new tech, to make it compatible with the Euro 6d emissions standard that are going into full effect starting January 1. That would cost some serious money, an investment not worthwhile on the long run, especially since the new 2 Series is coming out next year. It will certainly be interesting to see the entire engine line-up for next year’s brand new 2er.
The same move was done for the MINI Countryman though, this being a rather odd change of pace by contrast. The Countryman already has an Euro 6d-compliant diesel engine under the hood that was introduced in July. However, not matter how clean the mill is, customers are simply not interested and sales of the Cooper D model have been extremely low, prompting the company to drop it altogether.
