04 March 2018

BMW has ceased production of a number of key models as a result of the new fuel and emissions Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP).

A senior leasing industry source received an email from the manufacturer in February, which said it was “taking proactive steps to bring its product portfolio in line with global regulations [due to WLTP]” and confirmed it had stopped producing what he described as a “huge” number of cars, including: all plug-in hybrids except the 5 Series, 520d Efficient Dynamics, M3 and certain versions of the X1, X5 and X6 SUVs.

A BMW spokesperson said: “We are dropping the 520 ED as we no longer see the need for that model in the line-up,” and claimed that production of “some other variants” had paused as a result of WLTP, but did not name the specific models. He confirmed that the M3 was due to cease production but said it was already close to the end of its life cycle.

Our source said his company was also unable to place orders for the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes C-Class, the C350e, though the manufacturer had not commented on availability.

In February, Porsche announced that it would stop selling diesel models, while Auto Retail Network understands that there have been supply issues with Land Rover’s eD4 diesel engine, which powers the Discovery Sport and the Range Rover Evoque.

Tags: BMW, diesel, Land Rover, Mercedes, plug-in hybrid, Porsche, WLTP