The first luxury cute ute, if you don’t count Detroit Three and Japanese compact SUV offerings.
Since its fall of 2009 introduction the compact BMW X1 sport utility vehicle has reached 300,000 in global sales, the German Automaker said today. The X1 was arguably the first luxury cute ute, and the fourth addition to the BMW crossover lineup from a maker once largely known for its sports sedans.
The five seat SUV has evolved since then, and depending on the market, it offers a choice of five diesel and three gasoline engines with an output ranging from 85 kW/116 horsepower to 180 kW/245 horsepower, the most varied or complicated portfolio in its segment. BMW and its communist government required joint venture partner, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, just started building the X1 in China, one of the BMW Group’s top three markets worldwide.
The most powerful gasoline and diesel engines each come as standard with an electronically controlled, variable power distribution system dubbed xDrive, which uses an open differential and the antilock braking system to transfer torque between the front and rear wheels. BMW claims this is an alternative to its typical rear-wheel drive setup. It is also a needed counter to Audi’s Quattro and Mercedes-Benz’s 4matic all-wheel drive systems.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
