BMW 1 series will come to U.S. next year
Diana T. Kurylko
Automotive News | 1:00 am, January 22, 2007
BMW finally will bring its subcompact 1 series to the United States in early 2008.
The United States will get a coupe and a convertible, according to a BMW source and dealers.
The models have trunks rather than the hatchback rear on European models. BMW last week unveiled a three-door hatchback to expand the freshened 1 series, which goes on sale in Europe this spring. But BMW does not plan to sell that model or the existing five-door hatchback in the United States.
BMW introduced the 1 series in Europe in 2003 and has been promising a U.S. version for several years. At the Detroit auto show, BMW top management told Automotive News that a U.S. model has been approved.
BMW would not disclose the U.S. pricing or launch schedule.
Klaus Borgmann, project manager for the 1 series and other BMW vehicles, says BMW's main concern is whether the 1 series will cannibalize sales at the low end of the compact 3 series. In Germany, the 1-series base price is about $27,400; the 3-series base price is about $34,400.
That was also a concern in Europe, but "we now find that 60 percent of 1-series buyers come from the outside," says Borgmann, who was in the United States last week.
Bart Cohen, owner of Baron BMW in Merriam, Kan., says he has seen pictures of the car and believes the design will appeal to younger buyers.
Cohen and other dealers are confident the smaller car won't cannibalize 3-series sales: "It will bring people into the BMW family, people who have not considered us before."
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