Compact BMW 1 Series to hit the road soon

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

German carmaker PT BMW Indonesia announced on Monday it will introduce its latest model the BMW 1 Series some time in the first half of this year, opening a new market in the premium compact car segment.

While most BMW cars are saloons, the BMW 1 Series is a hatchback with strong sports design lines, which the company claims sets a new benchmark in its class representing the first compact sports hatch.

"I cannot tell you yet when exactly we will launch the 1 Series as we are still finalizing it. But probably in the second quarter," PT BMW Indonesia director of corporate communication Helena Abidin said.

"But with low diesel fuel quality here, we definitely will only supply the gasoline fuel models," she added.

There are four engine options for BMW 1 Series: BMW 116i and BMW 120i for gasoline fuel engine and BMW 118d and BMW 120d for diesel fuel engine.

The new car is 4.2 meters long, 1.75 meters wide and 1.43 meters high with a wheelbase of 2.6 meters.

The BMW 116i is powered by an in-line 4-cylinder, 16-valve, 1,596 cc engine with a maximum power of horsepower 114 (hp) at 6,000 revolution per minute (rpm) and a maximum torque of 150 Newton meter (Nm) at 4,300 rpm.

Its maximum speed is 200 kilometers per hour (kph) and it can reach 100 kph from standing in 10.8 seconds.

Meanwhile, the BMW 120i has an in-line four-cylinder, 16- valve, 1,995 cc powertrain unleashing a top power of 147 hp at 6,200 rpm. Its maximum torque is 200 Nm at 3,600 rpm. Its top speed is 217 kph and it can accelerate to 100 kph in 8.7 seconds.

Despite being a new model, the car maintains BMW's tradition of rear-wheel drive and develops the sculpted look which has become the recent company signature.

PT BMW Indonesia hopes to attract the discerning customer who has always appreciated the practical aspects of previously available compact vehicles, but needs something more special to meet their needs of driving pleasure and individuality.

While there are a number of compact sedan around not so many are as sporty or dashing.

In the premium segment, the closest rival is probably the Mercedes Benz A Class or Audi A3 in term of size. While Mercedes Benz is represented here by the A-140 with a smaller engine size, Audi has both the A3 1.6 FSI and A3 2.0 FSI are likely to be in direct competition with any engine version of the new BMW 1 Series.

The company also plans to introduce the fifth-generation of its popular BMW 3 Series, which made the bulk of last year's sales with 1,319 units sold out of PT BMW Indonesia's total sales of 2,053 units.