In the past year or two we have witnessed the launch of the new Audi A3 Sedan and the Mercedes-Benz CLA range.
BMW won’t rest on its laurels, and what you see here is the answer to these two main competitors. The BMW 1 Series Sedan is likely to be launched during the latter part of 2015, and should be based on the same platform as the front-wheel drive 2 Series Active Tourer we drove a few weeks ago.
With the codename F52, the Sedan is likely to be offered in North America with BMW’s xDrive, all-wheel drive arrangement. However, in South Africa we are certain only the front-wheel drive derivatives will become available.
The engine range could well be shared with that of the Active Tourer and Mini range. That makes the 2,0-litre, four-cylinder turbopetrol engine (141 kW/300 N.m) a serious contender, and maybe even the 1,5-litre, three-cylinder turbopetrol engine (100 kW/230 N.m).
It remains to be seen if BMW will offer some sort of CLA45 AMG or Audi S3 Sedan competitor, although that would need to be an xDrive variant.
Pictures courtesy: Autoevolution.com and Motorauthority.com
