BMW 2 Series Active Tourer was officially uncovered at the Geneva Motor Show, yesterday. The German car maker’s first attempt at a transverse engine, front-wheel-drive layout will compete with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. The 2 Series Active Tourer looks well put together despite the rather conservative styling.
The car will be available in three trims: the Sport Line, Luxury Line and the M Sport Package. The Sport Line pack receives high-gloss black accents, unique air intakes and exclusive 16/17 inch alloy-wheels. The next, Luxury Line, includes a high-gloss chrome grille, a leather- wrapped steering wheel, chrome accents and unique seat upholstery. In the M Sport package, it may not get the iconic straight-six motor but, it gets an aerodynamic body kit, a high-gloss black grille, a sport-tuned suspension and 17-or 18-inch light alloy wheels. This variant also gets a ‘M’ leather steering wheel, special upholstery with sports seats, an anthracite roof liner and ‘M’ branding on the door sill plates.
The vehicle is 4,342mm long, 1,800mm wide, 1,555mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,670mm. The car gets a boot capacity of 468 litres, going up to 1,510 litres with the rear seats, which can split 40:20:40 when folded down.
BMW has introduced three new engines, which includes two turbocharged petrol engines and a common-rail turbo diesel. The smallest one is the three-cylinder, 1.5-litre petrol with an output of 134bhp and 220Nm, a four-cylinder 2.0-litre petrol producing 227bhp and 350Nm and a 2.0-litre oil burner which churns out 148bhp and 330Nm of torque. A six-speed manual is standard with the option of an eight-speed automatic tranny. The powertrain range will get bigger when BMW adds three additional engines and the option of an all-wheel-drive.
The new Beemer’s main market will be its home turf Germany followed by China as the B-Class is the best-seller in the MPV segment in Germany and has a strong demand in China. India will get the car within six or eight-months of its global launch. The 2 Series does look a little better than the B-Class, given the engine options and although it’s premature to comment, we feel it might do well.
Source: WCF
