It seems the next generation of the BMW 1-Series is in jeopardy in terms of U.S. availability due to several reasons. One of them is because it will be made in Europe so it will have to be exported to the United States which will be quite expensive for the Bavarian marque. Another reason has to do with the rather small price difference between the 1-Series and the larger and far more popular 3-Series. However, BMW could decide to bring the car anyway stateside since both rivals Audi and Mercedes-Benz have just announced sub 30,000 USD models.
BMW has decided to wait a while and see how the A3 Sedan and CLA will be doing in their segment on the U.S. market before figuring out whether to bring the 1-Series on American soil. BMW’s chief of product planning and strategy for North America said the firm will try to take advantage of the segment with models priced at less than 30,000 USD.
One last reason why the 1-Series might not reach stateside once the next generation arrives is because it will overlap with the MINI lineup.
Source: Car & Driver
