PARIS--Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz will bring to the United States several vehicles based on platforms smaller than what they currently sell there.

BMW will bring a new front-wheel-drive family of cars in a class known as UKL, a German abbreviation for lower-compact-class cars.

"It will be a relatively big segment because we have several body styles," Ian Robertson, BMW AG board member for sales and marketing, told Automotive News last week at the Paris Motor Show.

He didn't disclose what body styles BMW is developing but confirmed that the vehicles will have a four-cylinder engine in the United States at launch. The new family of small cars is expected to be introduced in the next few (more...)