BMW will break with tradition by simultaneously selling two completely different cars - and calling them both 1 Series - as early as 2013.
Sources inside the Bavarian company have confirmed the company will sell both front- and rear-drive 1 Series cars within two to three years.
The 1 Series versions will have overlapping model cycles, with the rear-drive versions due for a new, 3 Series-based architecture this year, while the front-drive versions will use BMW's all-new UKL platform.
Yet, bizarrely, BMW's product planners see no option but to market both of its otherwise-separate models as 1 Series cars.
The potentially confusing scenario will be clarified somewhat by giving the rear-drive 1 Series cars more horsepower, while the front-drivers will be aimed more at fleet customers, sources suggested.
"For the 1 Series, the 116 and 118 are the biggest sellers and that's mostly fleet," a source said. "If you ask those fleet customers if it's rear drive or front drive, they don't know and they don't care."
Besides a separate architecture, the two 1 Series models will also have their own exterior and interior design as well.
"They will be different. They will look completely different, they will be in different cycles, but they will still be called 1 Series," another source confirmed.
With the current 1 Series to be updated this year, this will mean neatly overlapping model cycles because the rear-drive 1 Series isn't due for all-new architecture until 2018.
With our source denying the car shares any architecture with the all-wheel-drive Mini Countryman, the most obvious source of economy-of-scale for the front-drive 1 Series is to share with Mini.
To minimise the chances of the front-drive 1 Series cannibalising the profitable Mini sales, it's only likely to get smaller engines, including BMW's upcoming 1.5L, three-cylinder petrol engine.
Three-cylinder engines
BMW has ruled out following Volkswagen and Fiat into two-cylinder engines, instead relying on three-cylinder power plants to pull down its CO2 emissions.
Sources inside BMW confirmed it was leaning towards a 1.5L petrol in-line three-cylinder engine for use in its upcoming city-focused sub-brand "i" and its front-drive 1 Series, but the company denied it was also working on a two-cylinder motor.
The three-cylinder engine will be based around BMW's modular, single-cylinder 500cc unit, complete with direct fuel injection, variable valve timing and lift, as well as turbocharging.
"We developed the optimised 500cc cylinder and the whole development focus was to optimise the thermodynamics of this one cylinder," the source said.
"This way we could have a three-cylinder 1.5, a four-cylinder 2.0 or a six-cylinder 3.0, but we absolutely won't be doing a two-cylinder 1.0."
The company is also in developing a three-cylinder diesel as well, though its board has yet to decide which way to jump with its first production version.
"It looks as if we might go for the petrol one, but it's not clearly decided," one source said.
"If the focus was absolutely for consumption, then we would go for the diesel one, but it's not."
BMW is known to be hoping the three-cylinder layout will have some of its perception issues (as an odd size and as something smaller than a "real" BMW motor) erased by fitting one to the Vision ED concept car, though that car is likely to use a diesel, rather than a petrol, engine.
"We are convinced that by the time it is no longer important to have a set number of cylinders, we will be able to have a better sound from a three-cylinder engine than from a four cylinder," another source said.
"They won't want for technology, either, and they will all be turbocharged and direct injection, even if they are three cylinders. So that fits with our brand."
BMW is also convinced its single-cylinder architecture will help it remain an independent car maker by masking its economy-of-scale shortcomings to Mercedes and the VW Group.
"With the purchasing side, if you build 800,000 petrol engines a year, you need to buy 2.5 million pistons," the source said.
"So we get tremendous volumes that mean we are not a little car maker anymore. We have big car maker volumes."
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
Company%20Profile
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Manchester United's summer dealings
In
Victor Lindelof (Benfica) £30.7 million
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75 million
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £40 million
Out
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Released
Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free transfer
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9.8 million
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950