On the Road to North America: BMW and its Plan for the 1-Series

A second issue that is troubling BMW and could be one of the reasons for the 1-Series' North American debut delay, could be

Another stumbling block for the 1-Series' North American debut could be that it is currently only available in the five-door body style, but a sedan is on the way and will be first on our shores.

that it is currently only available in the five-door body style. Having observed Mercedes-Benz struggle to sell the C-Class Sport Coupe, and having already attempted to sell the 3-Series Compact (Ti) model in the late '90s with little success, BMW has all but confirmed that North Americans do not have the same appetite for hatchbacks as Europeans and Asians do.

No problem, BMW simply needs to wait until alternative body styles are developed and an inline-six stuffed between the front strut mounts. Insider accounts state that the Bavarian brand plans to offer just one inline-six with the 1-Series, and that is the new N52 2.5-liter

BMW believes that few people in North America are interested in a Bavarian 5-door hatchback despite a recent surge of popularity in the segment, therefore BMW will wait until alternative body styles are developed like this coupe which will become the 2-Series.

recently redesigned for the next-generation E90 325i. Should this be the case, the 125i would pack a 218 horsepower in European specification, backed by 184 lb-ft of torque, a 68 horsepower and 36 lb-ft advantage over the current top gasoline model, the 120i. Considering the 1-Series' light curb weight, it should be capable of hitting 100 km/h in the low six second range.

While I just said the N52 would be the only six offered, it is possible that BMW may introduce a second inline-six for the 1-Series once the model-range has been established in America. A small 2.0-liter version could act as an entry level model, producing between 170 and 180 horsepower. Such an addition would allow BMW to compete with high performance models such as the 200 horsepower turbocharged VW Golf GTI, as well as vehicles such as Volvo's S40 2.4 and Acura's TSX.