Car News – BMW CEO says U.S. market could have 100,000 BMW 4-Cylinders on roads.

BMW X1 Concept, one of the 4-cylinder vehicles planned to be released in the U.S. market.

As auto makers are being forced to comply with the 35.5 mpg regulation the U.S. set for all new vehicles sold, BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell says he believes the popular German automaker could sell more than 100,000 of their new line of 4-cylinder powered vehicles.

BMW plans to introduce a twin-turbo 4-cylinder engine of the new 3-Series for 2012, although it is unclear if an extra-high mpg diesel would arrive in the fleet.

“We see potentially a significant market that could get to 100,000 four-cylinder engines” in the United States, O’Donnell told Automotive News.

The German automaker is planning on releasing 4-cylinder variants of its X1 and X3 crossovers into the North American market. The U.S. market has not had a four-cylinder BMW since 1998, when the 318i and Z3 1.9 were previously offered.