BMW has presented a new Concept Active Tourer, which is the first to arrive from a range of front-drive entry-level BMWs that has long been mooted. This is tantamount to BMW’s decision to forget about its tradition of longitudinally mounted engines and rear-wheel drive. At the Paris motor show, BMW unveiled the five-door hatchback, a plug-in hybrid with four-wheel drive. The front wheels are driven by a transversely mounted engine. This implies that entry-level BMWs from the new small car line-up will have front-wheel drive. Meanwhile, an electric motor is powering the rear wheels. The platform is referred to as UKL1; it will be used in two wheelbase lengths both for the next-generation Mini line-up and the new range of entry-level BMWs to enter the 1-series line-up starting in late 2013. BMW is depending on this range to boost BMW’s annual sales volumes to two million by 2020. It will feature a new MPV previewed by the Concept Active Tourer to compete with the Mercedes B-class and Volkswagen Golf Plus. The Concept Active Tourer displays BMW’s new 1.5-litre three-cylinder direct injection petrol engine that is believed to soon be a staple of the small BMW and Mini line-ups. It has a codename of B38 and it will be utilized in the i8 sports car where it is fitted longitudinally. The twin-scroll turbocharged engine is from a new modular family that will later support three, four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel powerplants, promising as much as a 60% component commonality to result to more flexibility in production than the current engines.
Bmw Concept Active Tourer at the 2012 Paris Motor Show
by Andrew Christian, Email, 28 Sep, 2012
Bmw Concept Active Tourer
