BMW GB is considering adding diesel versions to the 7-series range for the first time when it launches an all-new model in spring 2002, senior executives said yesterday.
Managing Director Jim O’Donnell and Sales Director Graeme Grieve said the diesel engine option was “still being considered”.
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O’Donnell said that factors to be considered included “engineering time for right hand drive versions” – whether the German factory could spare time and resources to engineer right hand drive diesel variants.
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| The all new 2002 BMW 7-series |
They have been fitted with in-line, six-cylinder turbodiesel engines similar to those already sold in right-hand-drive 3- and 5-series models in Britain.
Journalists on both sides of the English Channel have critically acclaimed the BMW diesel sixes, with some British magazines claiming that the three-litre 3-series turbodiesel outperforms its petrol-powered sibling in day-to-day driving.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz both offer diesel-powered versions of their rival 7-series and S-class in Europe but to date have not built right-hand-drive versions because demand is limited in markets other than Britain, where sales of diesel cars are on the rise and expected to get a further boost from new CO2 emissions-based company car tax regime due to come into effect shortly.
“The factory is willing to build [RHD 7-series diesels] for us but there is a gap between what we think we can sell and what the factory would like to build for us,” Grieve said.
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