BMW has stopped offering all diesel models in the UK, due to poor demand. All diesel versions of the BMW 4 Series have been pulled from sale and most of the other cars have been slimmed down, including the 1 Series, 2 Series, 5 Series and the BMW X2 – all of which have not much choice left for diesel powertrains.
BMW puts this down to “consumer demand” which the company says has been lowering over time for diesel models. One of the most popular diesel models dropped from sale is the 118d, which in 2021 had 1,326 sales and that same model dropped to just 505 sales in 2022.
The entire car market in the UK is seeing a decline when it comes to diesels, with new car sales in February 2023 dropping by 14.6% when compared to the same month in 2022. Other fuel types have seen higher sales recently, with petrol growing by 34.9%, hybrid by 40% and electric cars by 18.2%.
Another factor is the cost of diesel in the UK, with February 2022 seeing prices of 147.42 per litre whereas costs now at 166.36 per litre.
