Toyota Verso is the first Toyota to get a BMW engine

The Toyota Verso (pictured) gets the option of a 1.6 litre BMW diesel engine from 2014

Two years ago we reported that BMW would be supplying Toyota with diesel engines in Europe from 2014, And bang on time (as you’d expect from the Germans and Japanese) the first Toyota with a BMW engine has been revealed. The Toyota Verso 1.6 D-4D goes in to production in January at Toyota’s plant in Turkey complete with a 1.6 litre diesel engine from BMW that comes with 111bhp and 199lb/ft of torque.

It’s not the sort of BMW diesel that’s going to see the Verso turn in to a hot MPV, but it does give the Verso emissions of 119g/km and allow Toyota to offer an engine that appeals to frugal minded, diesel-centric European buyers.

Toyota’s European technical centre in Belgium worked hard to make sure the BMW engine would work properly with Toyota’s transmission and electronics – not exactly a straightforward task – and have also added new engine mounts, a dual mass flywheel, new gearbox housing and a stop-start system.

Didier Leroy, Toyota’s European boss, said:

At Toyota, we believe that tackling environmental challenges facing our industry will require more than one approach. Hybrid is at the core of our strategy towards sustainable mobility, but we also see a role for clean diesel in Europe.

Working together with an industry leader like the BMW Group allows us to benefit from economies of scale to reduce development costs as well as improve our time-to-market.

A sensible and pragmatic move that will see revenue for BMW and extra sales for Toyota.

By Cars UK