It has taken decades for car makers to convince the American buyer that relatively smaller engined cars from Europe have more than enough performance.

They may not always come with a V8 but a six cylinder engine can be enough for most people. It took almost as much to talk them into turbochargers.

Is this enough to consider people will accept a mix between downsizing and turbocharging very soon? BMW certainly thinks so.

The Bavarian company will be sending its new 1.5 liter three cylinder engine over the Atlantic with some of their smaller cars.

Thanks to twin-turbocharging and a lot of engineering work, this engine will be ready to produce anywhere between 120 and 220 horsepower.

Neither of these figures will worry fellas driving muscle cars but in small BMWs it will certainly zip around quicker than most small cars while also being economical.

Decent selling points but how is this going to help out the way the Americans will be buying 1.5 liter engines? Well, according to BMW, it’s the simplicity.

If a car feels like it has decent grunt, buyers couldn’t care less if it’s a V12 or a one cylinder scooter. There is some logic in that, after all, not everybody knows what cares about what’s going on under the bonnet.

In order to further create some confusion, BMW claim that their half a six cylinder engine will actually behave like such an engine and make the same noise.

That might be some optimistic marketing stuff but we’re yet to see people lose interest in the i8 and it comes with this precise engine.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

Given the company’s ever constant presence at the top of the luxury car market pile you’d have to admit that BMW knows a little bit about finances.

So what do they have to tell us right about now on the sales and profits fronts? Well, something rather unexpected.

The Bavarian company’s economic leaders have come forward to Reuters about the ongoing competition in their segment and the way incentives play through.

At the moment the world’s markets are steadying out and going for the rise. Well at least most of them are and in the meantime Europe is still a cause for concern.

Friedrich Eichiner, BMW’s finance chief says that due to the pressures Europe, particularly the countries where the economy is at risk, the incentive wars will rage on.

There’s not only the guarantee of incentive battle to keep on going, there’s also the matter of not having a predictable end.

Despite this, Eichiner claims BMW is more than prepared to go to war. After having registered an amazing year in 2011, the company’s financial service has rounded up some interesting numbers as well.

Last year they reserved a risk provision of around 100 million euros in preparation. Most of the funds are likely to go to the eastern part of Europe if economies don’t keep on growing path over there.

In conclusion, there was a little bit of bragging. As proof of how well BMW understands the changing luxury car market they’ve announced a trivia figure for 2011.

Last year BMW registered $4.12 billion earnings before interest and tax. Even for a big car maker, that’s quite a lot of money.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

It’s only been about three weeks since we’ve had confirmation of the first BMW series-production of an electric-vehicle coming to the market with the launch of the Megacity Vehicle, scheduled for 2013.

Back then, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer stated that this BMW will move the bar and set a new industry tone as the Megacity Vehicle will be significantly lighter than conventional cars and, in terms of sustainability, will set a new standard across the entire value-added chain.

Since these claims still stand, here are some new ones. The BMW Megacity will be a full five seater vehicle sized about the same as a Golf with an unusual layout for a BMW, an electric car or pretty much most cars in general. The Megacity will be rear engined and rear wheel drive.

According to BMW the Megacity will be a revolution for electric vehicles and it will also have some of the company’s mainstream touches. The new electric car is set to have a range of 160 miles per charge but no mention on the charging time has been done.

The BMW Megacity will share most of the drivetrain with the BMW ActiveE concept.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com