The agreement calls for delivery of inline six-cylinder BMW diesel engines.
BMW AG is expected to announce this morning that it will supply more than 240,000 six-cylinder diesel engines to a fledgling maker of police vehicles, Carbon Motors Corporation, which has never produced a police car.
Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, and William Santana Li, Chairman and CEO of Carbon Motors Corporation will sign a contract at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. late this morning.
The number of engines to be supplied appears to be wildly optimistic, given the small size of the police market – roughly 75,000 vehicles annually pre-Great Recession, and the lack of experience at Carbon Motors in this specialized area, which is currently dominated by Ford Crown Victoria models.
Why the U.S. government, which has large taxpayer-financed holdings as the result of bailing out bankrupt General Motors and Chrysler, and has granted billions of dollars in subsidized loans to Ford Motor so it can retool its plants, would want to set up a new company to compete against them using BMW supplied engines is beyond my comprehension.
The agreement calls for delivery of 245 horsepower, inline six-cylinder BMW diesel engines, complete with cooling and exhaust gas systems and and an automatic transmission.
“Today’s agreement is an important milestone on this way and more will follow,” BMW executive board member Ian Robertson said in a statement.
Carbon Motors was founded in 2003 to produce the E7, a car said to be specifically designed for law enforcement. It’s now, vaguely, promised in 2013 or so, contingent on taxpayer subsidies pending at the U.S. Department of Energy.
BMW’s turbo diesel engine technology reduces fuel consumption by up to 40% and CO2 emissions by up to 30% when compared to comparable gasoline engines.
“This means that the Carbon Motors fleet will require only half the fuel of the current law enforcement fleet, yet with over 40% more torque,” Robertson said.
The BMW Group achieved a global sales volume in 2009 of 1.29 million BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles, -10.4% from 2008’s 1,435,876 units; and more than 87,000 motorcycles in 2009.
Revenues for 2009 totaled €50.7 billion. (Click Here for BMW Posts Earnings.) On 31 December 2009, the company employed a global workforce of approximately 96,000 associates.
BMW Group has three engine plants in Steyr, Austria; Munich, Germany; and Hams Hall, UK.