BMW considers this positive news, as it is a sign that future front-wheel-drive BMWs will be well received by consumers. BMW will introduce a front-wheel-drive entry-level model to challenge the Audi A1.
Norbert Reithofer, BMW CEO, revealed that 80 percent believed they were driving front-wheel-drive cars in a conference call with analysts and reporters.
In fact, the 1-Series is a rear-wheel-drive car. BMW Group does make front-wheel-drive vehicles but BMW Group does not.
Reithofer used this statistic to back BMW’s claim that front-wheel drive BMWs will be popular when it introduces them later in the decade. BMW announced recently that it was developing a front-wheel-drive platform for an entry-level BMW in order to compete with the Audi A1. BMW intends to share this architecture with MINI, where it could be used for up to 20 models for both brands. This architecture will also be used in the next-generation MINI Cooper, which is due to debut in 2013.
BMW intends to produce and sell up to 1,000,000 front-wheel-drive MINI and BMW vehicles by 2015. Reithofer stated that the 1-Series survey results were “quite surprising”, but BMW views it as positive news because consumers will accept front-wheel-drive BMW’s despite its longstanding commitment to all-wheel-drive platforms.