BMW plans to stick with six- and eight-cylinder engines for as long as gasoline-powered cars exist. This is in contrast to rival automakers such as Mercedes-AMG, which have downsized in the era of electrification.

Frank van Meel, the boss of BMW M, told reporters at the Festival at the Kialami Grand Prix circuit in South Africa that he does not want three- or four-cylinder engines in future M cars.

When the reporter asked if the inline six could ever be replaced by a powerful three-cylinder engine? Fran van Meeel replied:

"I hope that was just a rhetorical question because it's clear we're not going to do any three-cylinder engines," retorted van Meel. "We're not even going to do four-cylinder engines in high-performance cars. I know there are other companies [that] are doing that, but we're not going to do that."

The "other companies" van Meel refers to are clear. The 2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance will have a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid engine, instead of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that its predecessor had. Another example is the three-cylinder engine in the Toyota GR Corolla and GR Yaris.

Though other engines are really impressive, it seems that BMW stills cares about the character of the straight-six and intends to maintain its longstanding love affair with the V8.

Source: Carbuzz