Toyota and BMW, as you may know, have entered a long-term partnership two years ago that allows either party to tap into the resources of the other company to satisfy its needs more easily. Largely, this partnership is about boring stuff like diesel engines, but there will also be a jointly-developed sports car in the near future.

But until that arrives, let’s see what they have to offer for now. What they have to offer is the new Verso 1.6 D-4D compact MPV, the very first Toyota with BMW engine. It is a 1.6 liter diesel unit with 111bhp and 270 Nm of torque, and it emits 119 g/km CO2.

BMW has a good reputation in producing fine diesel engines, especially high-performance units. This one though, well it’s more about economy. Although 270 Nm of torque is rather a healthy amount in a family car like the Verso. The engine will be paired with Toyota transmission and electronics in this car. The engine gets a stop/start system as well.

Production of the Verso 1.6 D-4D will begin in January 2014 at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey’s Adapazari plant, the centre for all Verso manufacturing. Other Toyota-BMW joint projects in the works include fuel cell systems, lithium-air batteries, and creating lightweight vehicle body technologies.