The dramatic worldwide shift toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has reduced production of BMW's large-displacement engines to a trickle.

"We are producing the wrong engines here," Manfred Schoch, chairman of BMW's works council, said at a recent employee meeting. As the head of BMW's union, he sits on the automaker's supervisory board.

"The eight-cylinder hasn't been produced in a three-shift operation for a long time," Schoch said. "We can now produce the entire global demand four days a week on a one-shift operation."

The demand for 10- and 12-cylinder engines also has steadily declined, he said.

Six-cylinder assembly will be phased out in Munich and replaced by four-cylinder output, he said. In the first phase beginning in 2011, about 320,000 four-cylinder engines a year will be built in Munich. A second phase will add capacity for 240,000 engines a year, he said.

BMW's six-cylinder assembly line in Munich is "fairly new," said Ralph Huber, a BMW spokesman.

Schoch also said the works council is calling for the development of a pure electric vehicle based on the 1 series. The car, which might be named the City Electric Sprinter, could debut in 2010 at the earliest.