The “Go Big or Go Home” mantra that has been enshrined into the BMW Group’s culture since the late 1990s continues to yield new proposals in segments you never thought they’d be interested in.
From the 1-Series hatchback to the 2-Series Coupe and Convertibles and more recently, the 1-Series Active Tourer and 7-seater Gran Tourer minivans, BMW is slowly, but surely filling up all the compact segment gaps in its range.
Next in line is a new car that will feel both familiar and foreign to BMW traditionalists: the 1-Series Sedan. Familiar because it will have a similar footprint to the 1980s E30 3-Series, foreign because it will built around the brand’s front-wheel drive underpinnings, known internally as the UKL structure, though, you will be able to get BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system as well.
Prototypes of the 1-Series sedan were photographed undergoing winter testing in Northern Europe this month. They’re wearing camouflage and non-production front and rear ends, but we can still make out the shape of the sedan, which doesn’t look half bad in these pictures.
We won’t see any six-cylinders engines in the range, with BMW to offer the compact-sized sedan with its 1.5-liter three- and 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline and diesel units paired to six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic transmissions. The sporty gasoline-powered M125i and the diesel-fueled M125d, both with xDrive four-wheel drive, should top out the range.
Besides the usual suspects from Germany, including the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA, possibly even Cadillac if introduces a new, rear-wheel drive compact sedan placed under the ATS, BMW will very likely also try to steal a few sales from buyers of near-$30k plusher editions of mainstream mid-size sedans who wouldn’t mind trading some space and amenities for a premium badge.
However, BMW’s obsession with sales numbers and model range expansion does raise the question of the tipping point between premium and mainstream…
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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