BMW front-wheel drive vehicle to launch in 2013

Back in March, BMW’s CEO, Her Norbert Reithofer confirmed that a BMW front-wheel drive vehicle is on their roadmap and will launch in the near future. Back then, Reithofer outlined BMW’s medium term product strategy and also “touched” the latest survey on BMW 1 Series and the false assumption of a FWD vehicle: “It is true about 80 percent of the 1-series owners we surveyed either thought their car was front wheel drive or that they didn’t know the layout. But these were the drivers of the three and five-door hatchback models.” (Read our editorial on “A Brief History of Front Wheel Drive”)

Today, UK magazine Autocar reports that the first front-wheel bimmer will launch in 2013, in a hatchback form, and it will be positioned as a new entry-level model. The new car will be based on the next-generation MINI platform and surprisingly, it could carry the 1 Series badge name, giving buyers a choice between front or rear-wheel drive vehicles within that family.

Article continues over at BMW blog

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