It is a great news for all the BMW fans. Recently BMW 1 series has been spotted in the country. It is expected that this car is soon going to enter the Indian market. The car is already under test drives and so should be available pretty soon. The BMW 1 series is expected to compete with the renowned Mercedes Benz A class.
BMW, Bavarian Motor Works (English), is a German automobile manufacturer. It was established in the year 1916 and today it is one of the top 3 luxury car makers in the world. It also gave rise to Rolls Royce Motor Cars. In India, BMW operates through its subsidiary BMW India. It was established in the year 2006 in New Delhi at Gurgaon. It also has a manufacturing unit in Chennai. At present BMW has around 22 dealerships all across the country. All the major cities like Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Nagpur, Pune etc have a BMW dealership making them highly accessible.
BMW launched its 1 series in the year 2004. It is a series of small sized family cars which succeeded the BMW Compact. It was launched in 4 body styles. The first generation models E82 and E88 are still into the market. The second and the current generation of 1 series was launched in the year 2011. It was code named F20. The second model, F21, was launched in 2012.
The car that has been sighted in India is the model F20. It has been available in the international markets since 2011 but will enter India only now, in 2013. F20 is a 5 door hatchback with a total length of 4.2 metres. In the overseas market, F20 is sold in 2 variants. The cars either have a petrol engine of 1.6 litre capacity or a diesel engine of 2 litre capacity. But to keep it economical for Indians, F20 here will be launched with an engine on the lines of X1.
Thus the F20 here will have either a petrol engine of 2-litre capacity capable of giving an output of 150 bhp or a 2 litre diesel engine capable of churning out 181 bhp. It might also be available with a direct injection engine option, showing an output of 168 bhp.The car cabin too can be expected to be on the lines of the 3 series or X3.
BMW has planned a localized production of this car to keep the prices low and competitive. It will be manufactured in the company’s Chennai plant. The car at its launch might cost somewhere around Rs 20 lacs to Rs 25 lacs. You can get your hands on this car around September this year.
Image Courtesy – www.autocarindia.com
