Toyota Close To Agreement To Sell Engines To BMW.(Toyota Motor Corp., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG)(Brief Article)

BMW AG is close to signing an agreement with Toyota Motor Corp. under which the Japanese firm will supply diesel engines for BMW's new Mini automobile, a BMW spokesman said.

"It's nearly done," BMW spokesman Michael Rebstock said. But he added that it's uncertain exactly when the companies will finalize the deal and declined to say how many engines the deal would include or how much they would cost.

Japan's Nihon Keizai financial newspaper reported that Toyota may begin supplying a newly designed diesel engine to BMW as early as next year, and may build up its annual supply of the engines to 30,000 units in 2003.

The new Mini went on sale in Britain July 7, two months ahead of its launch on the European continent. It won't arrive in the United States until March. The German company bought Mini in 1994, bundled with Rover passenger autos and the flagship Land Rover off-road vehicle line. It sold the other two loss-making brands last year.

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