Quote:
Originally Posted by SCOTT26
A touch Paranoid?
This is what BMW engineers have done to make the Active Tourer competitive as a BMW. Also check the reviews of the MINI to see how that car is getting excellent results and praise.
The BMW among front-wheel-drive cars.
Like all BMW models, the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer makes its mark with great driving dynamics and the sort of driving experience the brand is renowned for. The newly developed chassis, comprising a single-joint spring strut axle at the front and a multi-link rear axle, combines agility and directional precision with excellent handling stability and suspension comfort. The front drive axle in the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer has undergone extensive fine-tuning, ensuring that it endows the car with optimum driving dynamics and wonderfully precise steering feedback. The electromechanical steering and the system’s functional arrangement combine to produce a driving sensation that is devoid of interfering torque steer.
The intelligent use of high-tensile and ultra-high-tensile multi-phase steels makes a decisive contribution to safety standards in the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, while also helping to keep the vehicle’s weight down. Apart from being a crucial factor in the model’s exceptional driving dynamics, this lightweight engineering is just one among many BMW EfficientDynamics technology elements. These also include the Auto Start Stop function, Brake Energy Regeneration, Optimum Gearshift Indicator, on-demand operation of ancillary units and the integral Air Curtain, which uses two vertical air inlets in the front bumper to direct the airstream along the front wheels.
Compact and Sub-Compact cars make a lot of money , money which is then used for additional R&D and further innovations in manufacturing and lightweight engineering.
Compact and Sub-Compact are the highest growth segments in the industry. The segment continues to grow and with each manufacturer developing their own competitor you have to be competitive especially in packaging something the Active Tourer excels at and even more so with the arrival of the Gran Tourer which will offer seven seats , so far the X5 is the only BMW to do so and not everyone in Europe will be able to afford an X5.
With sub-compact and compact cars also needed because of a global shift to customer demand and further points of legislation over emissions you either adapt or die.
Regarding the 2er's future? , No further decision on where that car will sit in the future has been made. As of now it is media speculation. Right now is not the time to make an informed decision as BMW are currently in a production landslide for the new car. The most demanded model being the 220d with M Sport Packet.
Interestingly since both architectures are modular , UKL can be adapted to RWD but there is a compromise in loss of some packaging in the final product.
Or it can join the BMW-Toyota joint architecture.
All options are open but the car is off to a great start and will be further emphasised by the Cabrio later this Summer. When all 2er models are combined for overall sales you are talking about a very high profitability level for a combined volume and niche car.
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All that sounds good from a marketing stand point... but We are CONSUMERS. We don't care that BMW wants more profits, specially if that profiteering means more un-focused cars.
So go on, continue to make cars for Asia & keep trying to offload/subsidize/market them here and telling us we should feel honored because the Active Tourer has "handling characteristics". (LOL.. I was laughing so hard at your reply I had to get a tissue to blow my nose.) Scott, do you even drive cars..? Do you know the difference between front wheel drive characteristics, & rear wheel drive characteristics..? Do you understand the importance, of the oxymoronic statement, that is FWD BMW..?
There should never be a FWD BMW, ever.
(We can buy a Ford for that.)
Secondly, you marketing speech didn't rebuttal the fact, that there is no reason to buy a BMW anymore, because in the near future, BMW's are now (openly admitted) unfocused BMWs, & now open for mass consumption.
One chassis for all cars, means I will move to another brand. It means BMW no longer engineers car with an exact purpose, but based on what is left over/compromised from a single design. (Homogeneous fleet.)
Why sell a 2,3,4,5,6,7 series, if they are all the same chassis? Why not just rebrand the whole company as "BMW One" and just let the customer choose what cabin/body shell people want..? Didn't BMW learn from GM's debacle 20 years ago..? A Chevy is a Pontiac is a Oldsmobile is a Caddy, etc. No flavor, all bland because it the same recipe over and over and over.
Good luck Scott, because I (along with many enthusiasts) will never buy a BMW, that is not designed from the ground up. Anyone can buy a GM, discerning drivers buy BMWs... but when BMW themselves are no longer decerning, they will loose their core customers. No amount of marketing speak will bring us back.