First Look: The next BMW 1-Series, Bavaria’s first FWD sedan, this is supposedly it

Taking the automotive news-sphere by storm on this slow Monday is the supposed revealing of the hotly-anticipated, BMW 1-Series sedan, the company’s first-ever entry-level luxury front-wheel drive sedan for the modern masses.

The only thing: you’ll have to go to China if you really want one.

Ok, so why is this a big deal? Well, firstly, this is a front-wheel drive BMW. Yes, I know, they’ve existed for a few years already in the form of the latest BMW X1 and the 2-Series Active Tourer. Also, front-wheel drive for cars like the X1 and the 2-Series Active Tourer make sense since they’re practicality-oriented vehicles. But for an entry-level sedan, this basically turns the tides completely for BMW.

Many rumors and reports confirmed BMW’s transition into using more front-wheel drive applications to make full use of BMW’s latest UKL front-wheel drive platform, the same platform providing a starting point for pretty much every new Mini being made. This latest BMW 1-Series sedan is the most recent byproduct of these efforts.

With the intent to compete against the likes of the Audi A3 sedan and the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, BMW promises the new front-wheel drive 1-Series sedan has been “fine-tuned” to meet Chinese customer’s demands without losing the signature sporty feel we typically expect from Bavaria.

However, specifics still remain to be unavailable, so we’ll just have to take their word for it, for now.

Stay tuned as more becomes available.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: BMW