For the longest time, BMW->ke178 has been producing four-cylinder engines on at least half of its roster of cars all over the world yet it seems ironic how non-of these cars can be found in the US, arguably the largest BMW market in the world.

As much as that fact is hard to swallow, it is actually true. The US hasn’t seen a four-cylinder BMW engine in over ten years. But now, word has been spread that BMW is set to return its four-cylinder vehicles back to US roads. That was what BMW’s vice president of US engineering, Tom Baloga, said recently.

The decision to bring back four-cylinder engines stemmed from the U.S. government’s mandate of achieving a fuel-economy average of 35.5 mpg by 2016. As a result of this, a lot of car manufacturers would inevitably be compelled to dramatically alter their overall approach just to meet this magic number. For a company like BMW, widely considered as one of the most prestigious in the world, it means that it has to compensate for increasing fuel economy without comprising its heritage of premium performance. As a result of this tricky balancing act, BMW might well be inclined to produce cars with turbocharged and direct injection engines – thus the reintroduction of its four-cylinder engine vehicles.

Continued after the jump.

It’s also worth noting that BMW already has the tools to meet the US’ fuel economy regulations of 2016. A lot of BMW models running around Europe have already passed the US’ stringent number of 35.5 mpg. Despite that, BMW is still keen on producing a totally revamped fleet of cars to specifically cater to the requirements of the US government. According to the folks at BMW, that may just include the reintroduction of four-cylinder engines on American roads.