The China-made BMW X1 was launched on the Chinese car market in March. Sales however are not very good because buyers find it too expensive. BMW is therefore working on a cheaper entry-level X1 that will be launched later this year. The X1 is made in China by the Brilliance-BMW joint venture.

Price of the current X1 range starts at 282.000 yuan, this cheaper version will start around 260.000 yuan. Cheaper indeed but buyers will loose a lot. As you can see the screen is gone, meaning the airco and radio/cd will be manually controlled. Furthermore, all the LED-light-thingies disappear, there will ne no leather and no wood. Worst thing is the engine and the gearbox: a 2.0 four-cylinder with only 150hp and 250nm, mated to a six-speed manual.

Well, this won’t work. The absence of a screen and automatic gearbox will make this BMW basically unsellable. Even the smallest Geely’s come with huge screens and sorta advanced 6-speed automatics these days! What is BMW thinking here? The X1 range is just too expensive, BMW better be happy with a smaller margin and make it cheaper quickly.

Via: Autohome.