BMW's 2 Series Active Tourer hits the road in China

The 2 Series Active Tourer is a practical size, has a spacious and light interior. [Photo/China Daily]

Spacious interior

The 2 Series Active Tourer has a light and spacious interior. Despite its compact exterior dimensions, it can comfortably seat five people.

The 1,510-liter luggage compartment and the 40:20:40 split-folding rear backrest demonstrate the model's everyday practicality.

Flexibility is further enhanced by a sliding rear seat, which allows either knee room or luggage space to be increased as required.

The foldable boot floor conceals a storage compartment with a handy multifunction tray.

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is the first model in the premium compact class to boast a head-up display, which projects information into the driver's field of vision in full color.

Instead of being displayed on the windscreen itself, the information is shown on a screen that extends out between the steering wheel and the windscreen, thus enabling drivers to view the information without having to divert their attention from the road.

Outstanding performance

The BMW 218 i sports a new 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine, with a peak output of 100 kW and top torque of 220 Nm. Its fuel consumption per 100 km stands at 5.9 liters and carbon dioxide emissions are 141 g per km.

The TwinPower Turbo technology enables the lightweight engine to have a faster response to the gas pedal, said BMW. The automaker added that this was the first time that BMW equipped its core models with three-cylinder engines.

The BMW 220 i is equipped with an new 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Coupled with an eight-speed manual/automatic gearbox, it generates a maximum output of 141 kW and a top torque of 280 Nm. The zero to 100 km/h sprint takes only 7.4 seconds.

BMW believes the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer will become a popular choice in the premium compact class in China. The automaker said that the model was delivered to more than 6,900 customers just two months after its European launch.

"By expanding our product range, we are looking to attract new customer groups to the BMW brand, just as we have done with the successful BMW 1 Series. Around 70 per cent of the first-generation BMW 1 Series cars were sold to customers new to the brand," said Engel.

He said BMW launched an online presale of the model on Tmall, a popular e-commerce portal owned by Alibaba, as the automaker believes it is a new way to interact with young Chinese customers who are heavily engaged in online shopping and social networking.

The automaker is also planning to launch at least another 10 new products in 2015. BMW said its dealers in China were confident in their market performance.

BMW sold more than 455,000 BMW and MINI vehicles in China in 2014, a 16 percent rise from the previous year, according to the automaker.