Compact BMW 1 Series to hit the road soon
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.