The rumors of BMW's new green brand have been circulating for months. We talked about the possibility back in January and November. A bit of news came in early February with the discussion of a revived Isetta small car. Automotive News (subs req'd) is now reporting that the Isetta rumors - or, as one of our readers said, iSetta - might be coming true. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer told AN that a 12-member planning group called "Project i" has been working behind the scenes for about a year to discuss forming a new brand just for BMW's alternative-fuel vehicles. Reithofer said that the group, "Is fully independent and even free to act beyond BMW structures if necessary." BMW may build a small EV and if it does, the badge is just as unknown at this point as the look and battery type.

Of course, there's no reason BMW can't find religion on just greening up the BMW brand itself. I mean, a 520d gets better mileage than a Prius, don't ya know? Would an all-electric BMW city car be too much brand dilution?

[Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)]

BMW seems to like the idea of an efficient new micro-car to offset the emissions of some of the brand's more egregious models in the upcoming EU carbon rules. There's more potential good news for people who'd like to drive a BMW that's green as all get out: there is a chance that the blue-and-white might build an all-electric car for the U.S. market. Automotive News (subs req'd) is reporting that a decision on such a car will come later this year. According to AN, one key question is whether to go it alone or work with a partner (Daimler, anyone?) on this vehicle. We're not picky.

[Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)]

Starting in mid-October (or thereabouts) rumors about the possibility of BMW going a bit greener with a new (purchased or acquired) brand began swirling. AutoblogGreen reader Dan finally called us on our silence on this point, writing the other day: How come, you didn't mention the rumors about BMW and their 4th eco-brand? Just search Google and you'll find a lot of articles. Check it out! The new name is said to be " Just "!?!?!?
First, should that name be accurate, it will certainly make these folks happy. Second, to answer Dan's question, I just hadn't seen that much on this eco-brand option and didn't spend a lot of time hunting down more information. Prompted by his email, though, I went looking.

Auto Industry UK does mention a possible fourth brand in the BMW stable, but doesn't say anything about this brand being eco-aware. Still, the article is from the end of September, so maybe the eco angle wasn't part of the rumor at that time. See also Left Lane News.

About the only easily accessible article I found that mentions that this new BMW brand might be green was in Reuters, which said the following on Oct. 13:

A possible target could be an engineering company that could develop BMW's planned fourth brand for environmentally friendly cars, the magazine reported in a pre-released article from its Monday edition, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the company. A spokesman for BMW, the world's largest premium-car maker, declined to comment.

So, this leaves us with a lot of no-news and a few tiny tidbits to guess about. I'll add my two cents and say that it seems like any new BMW eco-brand will likely be big on hydrogen vehicles. Just look at how much hype BMW is squeezing from their few Hydrogen 7s (examples 1, 2, 3). Or, perhaps, the company will let the upper-crust BMW marque use the expensive hydrogen technology and use the new brand for other green alternatives. This seems like the perfect place for me to ask you what you think/have heard. The floor is yours.

[Source: Reuters, Auto Industry UK, Left Lane News]