Quote:
Originally Posted by Smoltz
You should do some research on CAFE requirements, how CAFE affects companies like BMW and the cost per unit for violations. Also consider the sales volume of efficient cars compared with the volume of M cars in BMWs lineup.
This is more of a choice by BMW than the result of a mandate by the Federal Government, at least as far as the US is concerned.
-Adam
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Thanks for the tip, but I have done that research in the past. It's not just the CAFE requirements, but also those of the European Union. It's the latter that is setting stricter emissions requirements for the future. Yes, BMW does sell far more efficient models than overall M car sales, but my understanding was that ratio eventually would not meet the future fleet mileage and emissions requirements, hence the more efficient M cars.
This brought up the question of how Porsche and Ferrari and similar manufacturers are still able to build the engines that they do. I believe those manufacturers were initially granted an extension on meeting the requirements due to being "niche manufacturers," but would eventually be forced to meet the requirements. With the case of Porsche and Ferrari, they may be able to fall under the large corporate fleet sales of the VAG and Fiat Group, allowing those vehicles to fall outside the requirements assuming the fleet average meets the requirements. Aston Martin on the other hand, doesn't have a large corporate fleet to fall under, which is why we have seen the creation of the Toyota based Cygnet.
With all that being said, I certainly hope we don't see the death of naturally aspirated engines, but I understand why we'll see more forced induction and diesel applications.