BMW has confirmed it has no plans to build a hotter 1 Series to take on the likes of the Mercedes-AMG A45 and Audi RS3 Sportback, saying customers in that part of the market should buy the M2 Competition instead.
Of course, the third-generation 1 Series has moved to a front-wheel-drive platform, with the four-cylinder M135i xDrive topping the new range (offering 225 kW) and taking on the likes of the Audi S3 Sportback, Mercedes-AMG A35 and Volkswagen Golf R.
Florian Moser, the Munich-based firm’s 1 Series spokesperson, furthermore suggested to CarAdvice the hyper-hatch market was a small one.
“Our competitors are the A35 and S3; they’re our target. We have the M2 Competition for more,” Moser said.
“We see no need in the hatch [for a more powerful flagship], since the global take-up rate is around five percent, so it’s not the core of our group. At the moment, that’s our strategy,” he told the Australian publication.
The comments echo those of BMW M product boss Carsten Pries, who in June said the German firm’s high-performance division would focus on building performance vehicles with “global” relevance rather than getting involved in power wars.
