In its newer electric vehicle (EVs) model, **BMW has canceled plans to stop production of its trademark V8 and V12 petrol engines which will remain available in its high-end performance and luxury models as part of the company’S Neue Klassese electrification strategy. ** **
According to Automotive News Europe, the German automaker’s renewed commitment to large combustion engines is due in part to continuing high demand in the US.
The key to our strategy is high-performance engines,’ a BMW spokeswoman told ANE that North American demand for V8 cars remains “above average” and the company doesn’t expect it to slow down in the near term.
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After BMW ended V8 production at its Steyr plant in Austria, by the end of 2025, it was rumoured that BMW was about to phase out its largest engines collected pace.
But production of V8 andV12 engines has since been transferred to BMW’s Hamson Hall factory in the UK, where it has long produced three- and four cylinder petrol engines as well with large-displacement engines since 2022.
While V12s built in the UK are now supplied only to BMW’s super-luxury brand, Rolls-Royce, V8s continue to power the M5 and M8 sports cars, and some versions of the 7 Series limousine, as well as the X5, X6, X7 and XM large SUVs, which remain popular in the US.
BMW, which is retooled to produce Neue Klasse EVs, has retained part of its combustion-engine manufacturing operations at its main plant in Munich after demand for large-capacity engines.
As such, some 400 employees continue to produce cylinder-heads, crankcases and crankshafts for V8 and V12 engines in Munich, which is described as ‘Gallic village’ (a department that has been known as the last European bastion of large BMW engines at a plant where one of its most advanced EV factories will be made).
ANE reports that engine production had been scheduled to wind down completely by the end of 2027, but BMW has now refused to commit a fixed end date and says there is no timetable to shut it down.
The news follows axing of the European Union’s controversial plan to effectively ban the sale of new petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles from 2035 after lobbying by automakers and local governments.
Rather than require the all new cars sold in Europe to be zero-emissions and therefore effectively EVs, the EU is now considering a proposal that manufacturers’ new-vehicle fleet emissions should be 90 per cent cut back for CO2 tailpipe emissions instead of 2021 levels.
The move is a response to growing pressure from Germany, Italy and major European automakers over their competitiveness against Tesla and Chinese EV-makers.
The offer is also reportedly said to include a three-year transition period (2030–2022) in which automakers must cut CO2 emissions from their cars by 55 per cent (compared to 2021 levels) while the target for commercial vans would be less difficult 50 to 40 percent.
“For new registrations from 2035 onwards, a 90 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100 per cent,” politician Manfred Weber told Bild in December 2025, according to Automotive News.
From 2040 onwards there will be no 100 per cent target for . That is why technology ban on combustion engines is off the table,’ . Paraphrast.
The European Commission is due to unveil new rules designed to encourage the transition away from fossil fuels used in the automotive industry, with changes expected to be made to the way fuel economy and emissions are calculated for PHEVs.
The watering down of new-vehicle emissions targets in Europe follows a proposal by the US administration of President Donald Trump to significantly weaken new-vehicle fuel economy targets for automakers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed an increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard of between 0 and. 25 and 0 , but. 5 per cent a year to hit 34 percent. A is 5mpg (6mp) 6mp. 8L/100km) by 2031 – under the 50. 4mpg (4mp). Under President Joe Biden, in 2024 he proposed 7L/100km) CAFE target.
Europe’s 2035 petrol and diesel ban axed – report
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Thanks for reading BMW scraps end date for V8 and V12 engine production
