Is it nearly the end of the road for the BMW diesel repmobile?
Is it almost the end of the road for the BMW repmobile? The German car giant has dropped diesel engines from its model range due to declining demand
- BMW has removed a number of diesel engines from its 1, 2, 5 Series and X2 SUV range
- It no longer offers a diesel engine with its 4 Series cars in showrooms
- Diesel BMWs were the repmobile of choice for sellers in the years 2000-2010
BMW has confirmed it has significantly reduced the number of diesel cars in its range, as a huge drop in demand in recent years seems to spell the end for the Beemer repmobile.
Diesel-guzzling saloons have been the engine of choice for sales reps to drive high miles around the UK for generations, but BMW said it has already pulled some oil burners from its range as fewer customers want diesel cars.
A spokesperson for the brand said the decision is “a reflection of the changing market.”
End of the road for the BMW diesel repmobile? The German car giant has dropped a number of diesel engines from its new car line-up due to the massive drop in demand for oil burners
The news that BMW had removed a number of diesel engines from its model range came out car.
It says that some diesel variants of the 1 Series, 2 Series Coupé, 5 Series and X2 SUV have been removed, while the 4 Series no longer has a diesel option at all.
The most popular engine to be dropped is the 1 Series 116d, with 1,326 sold in Britain in 2021.
This is Money contacted BMW for comment, with a spokesperson telling us: ‘BMW is constantly monitoring consumer demand about the models to ensure we have a product offering that is relevant and reflective of our customers’ needs. customers.
“Changes to our line-up reflect changing market demand and by removing lower volume variants, we’re ensuring BMW offers our customers variety while improving their ordering experience.”
The move reflects the huge decline in demand for diesel cars in recent years, with battery electric vehicles officially outselling oil burners for the first time in history by 2022.
Some diesel options in the 1 Series, 2 Series Coupe, 5 Series (pictured) and X2 SUV have been removed from BMW showrooms
Diesel car registrations fell by a third last year as consumers continue to turn their backs on fuel type
Only 155,324 diesel passenger cars were registered in Britain last year, down from 234,526 in 2021, representing a drop of a third (33.8 per cent).
In contrast, sales of electric cars grew 40 percent year-on-year to 267,203 registrations, while demand for diesel paled in comparison to petrol engines, with just over 900,000 engines hitting the road in 2022 and running on unleaded vehicles.
It also saw diesel market share fall from around one in six new cars in 2021 to less than one in ten last year.
Fewer than 16,000 diesel passenger cars have been purchased so far this year, which is 19 percent less than sales in January and February 2022.
Before the Dieselgate scandal in 2015, diesels accounted for around 50 per cent of the UK’s then booming new car market.
With the fallout from the emissions cheating scandal, the government’s decision to provide diesels with higher vehicle excise taxes, the introduction of London’s ULEZ and other clean air zones across Britain, and the increased push to go electric , however, oil burners have become much less popular.
Another huge nail in the coffin in recent months has been the skyrocketing cost of fueling them, with a liter of diesel costing around 20p-a-litre more than petrol due to Britain’s refusal to import the fuel from Russia. import and costs have increased dramatically since March 2022.
According to today’s RAC Fuel Watch, the average UK diesel price over the weekend was 166.42 pence per litre, while petrol cost just 147.49 pence.