Toyota and BMW have signed an agreement in which the latter will supply its diesel engines to the Japanese car maker while benefiting from Toyota green car tech. However, the deal covers Europe and Toyotas with BMW engines are not likely to make an appearance elsewhere.

Now it seems that the premium segment on which both names active is not covered by that deal. It has been confirmed by BMW and Toyota officials that Lexus will not get gain anything in terms of new drivetrains.

According to Automotive News, Etienna Plas, Toyota Europe spokesman, said “The agreement with BMW does not include any supply of BMW engines to Lexus. ” The same idea could be drawn from an interview by Klaus Draeger, BMW’s development chief, for Wirtschafts Woche concerning BMW sales “We don’t have any concerns. The engines are not planned for use in the Lexus brand.”

This actually is a protective measure taken by BMW. Lexus is the Germans’ competitor on the premium and luxury segment. This is a segment which, in Europe at least, is dominated by BMW, with a market share of 4.7 percent. Compared to that, Lexus only has 0.2 percent of the market. If the latter got the clean diesel engines BMW uses, sales could have soared, thus weakening the Germans’ position.

This is especially true in Europe where diesel is a popular fuel choice. That scenario would be very unlikely in the US, for example, where diesel cars account for just 3 percent of overall auto market. And the situation there is reversed, with Lexus dominating BMW.