China to benefit from BMW 1 Series Sedan

Rear doors and a separate boot added to BMW’s 1 Series for China-only model.

What's the news?

No, despite the looks, this is not a BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé - rather, it is the 1 Series Sedan and it's the fifth BMW model to be built in China, for China.

A collaboration between BMW Group and the Chinese-based joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA), the 1 Series Sedan is an exclusive and tailored model for the far east market. The majority of its road-testing took place in China and engineers from the country were heavily involved in its sign-off.

The four-door One is a development of the BMW Concept Compact Sedan shown at the 2015 Guangzhou Motor Show and it wears the typical kidney grilles, twin-circle headlamps and Hofmeister kink that you'd find on anything built in BMW's German motherland.

Engines will be units manufactured in BBA's Shenyang facility, while BMW says the 1 Series Sedan will provide customers with 'unparalleled convenience, rich infotainment and significantly enhanced safety'.

Anything else?

It's not likely BMW in Europe will adopt the 1 Series Saloon as one of its models any time soon, although as Audi makes an A3 Saloon and Mercedes punts out the CLA, such an east-to-west transition might not be as far-fetched as it seems.

Published on: July 18, 2016