Wednesday, 14 April 2010

The BMW 1 Series Success Story - First Million Units Built

Five years of production, four body variants and one million times Sheer Driving Pleasure in the compact class. The BMW 1 Series has already reached a seven-digit production volume in its first model generation, clearly confirming its status as a genuine best seller in the international car market.

Accounting for one million units sold since its debut in 2004, the BMW 1 Series is also one of the driving forces for the outstanding success of the world’s leading manufacturer of premium cars.

The anniversary model was delivered to its proud owner on Monday, 12 April, on the occasion of the Leipzig Motor Show, the Auto Mobil International (AMI). The car, a three-door BMW 118d built at BMW Plant Leipzig, was handed over jointly by Frank-Peter Arndt, Member of the Board of BMW AG for Production, and Stanislaw Tillich, the Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, to a customer from Leipzig.

The BMW 1 Series offers an incomparable combination of sporting driving pleasure and outstanding efficiency. Now available as a three-door Sedan, a five-door Sedan, a Coupé and Convertible, the BMW 1 Series stands out clearly as the only car in the compact segment with rear-wheel drive. High-tech suspension technology unparalleled in this class to this very day also serves to guarantee characteristic driving pleasure in the BMW 1 Series.

As yet a further essential feature, the BMW 1 Series is available with Active Steering varying not only steering assistance, but also the steering angle as a function of speed.

Germany’s leading premium manufacturer also proves the unique position of the BMW 1 Series versus its competitors through new concepts and philosophies in communication. Young, fresh, unconventional – this is how BMW’s highly successful compact model has been presented from the start. Highlights unforgotten to this day are the launch campaign starring Kermit, the frog from the Muppets Show, sitting at the wheel, or the highly dynamic launch campaign introducing the BMW 1 Series in the USA, where at an imaginary place in Bavaria the BMW 1 Series is to be “shot” straight to the USA on a gigantic ramp. And last but certainly not least in this context, the launch campaign for the BMW 1 Series Coupé was lauded as the best advertising by Auto Trophy, the German car magazine, under the title “Condensed Intensity”. 

BMW 1 Series as the pacemaker in reducing both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. 

From the start, the BMW 1 Series played a significant role in giving BMW EfficientDynamics a broad impact in the market. The wide range of BMW EfficientDynamics technologies including Auto Start Stop, a Gearshift Point Indicator, Brake Energy Regeneration, Electric Power Steering as well as other ancillary units activated and operated on-demand – naturally all this featured as standard – highlights the four-cylinder models in the BMW 1 Series introduced in the 2007 model year for the first time.

Ever since, the ongoing popularity of the BMW 1 Series has helped to consistently reduce both fleet consumption and average CO2 emissions. In 2009, for example, the average CO2 emissions of all BMW Group cars registered in Europe was 150 grams per kilometre, equal to fuel consumption of just 5.9 litres/100 km (47.9 mpg imp).  This once again makes BMW far superior to the most important competitors in the premium segment in terms of CO2  management and emission control.

Boasting a model range larger than ever before, the BMW 1 Series once again emphasises its unique position in 2010 as the pacemaker for efficient mobility combined with supreme driving pleasure in the compact class. In all, the four body versions of BMW 1 Series now come with a choice of six petrol and, respectively, four diesel engines. The power range extends from 85 kW/ 115 hp in the entry-level BMW 116d all the way to 225 kW / 306 hp in the two top athletes in the segment, the BMW 135i Coupé and the BMW 135i Convertible.

Currently no less than five models in the BMW 1 Series already come with a CO2 emission rating of less than 120 grams per kilometre. The absolute leader in terms of fuel efficiency and emission management in the series is the BMW 116d, its 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel delivering maximum output of 85 kW / 115 hp, peak torque of 260 Newton-metres/192 lb-ft, and, in combination with various BMW EfficientDynamics technologies also featured as standard on this model, average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle of just 4.4 litres/100 kilometres – equal to 64.2 mpg imp – and a CO2 rating of 118 grams per kilometre.

The unusually good balance of driving pleasure and fuel economy makes the BMW 116d particularly attractive also for the operator and owner of company and commercial car fleets. Immediately after its launch into the market, BMW’s entry-level diesel scored a class victory in the campaign for the “Company Car of the Year 2009”. In this contest organised jointly by the German motor journal “Firmenauto” and the DEKRA Technical Inspection Company, the BMW 116d came first in the category of compact cars.

This award proves once again that fleet managers appreciate efficient driving pleasure in two respects as a feature helping to motivate a company’s employees and at the same time keep the company’s budget as low and economical as possible.

Internationally, the BMW 1 Series has likewise gained an outstanding reputation through its supreme efficiency: As early as in 2008, the three-door BMW 118d was chosen as the “World Green Car of the Year”. This special award presented by an international jury of motor journalists honours vehicles and technologies making a specific contribution to the reduction of emissions and in this way symbolising the outstanding environmental awareness of the respective manufacturer.