In a lengthy press release issued today, BMW emphasized the hot sales of its highly controversial 2 Series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer minivans. It turns out the front-drive 2 Series minivans outsell the rear-drive 2 Series coupe by a factor of two to one. BMW says it sold 157,144 2 Series vehicles in 2015; more than 107,000 of those sales were either Active Tourers or Gran Tourers.
When the twin minivans were launched last year, they quickly got a lot of heat from BMW’s loyal enthusiasts who associate the brand with fun driving dynamics, 50-50 balance and rear driven wheels.
The 2 Series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer are only sold in Europe; the U.S. market only gets the coupe and convertible 2 Series.
The series Gran Tourer shares its exterior styling with the Active Tourer through to the trailing edges of its front door, but the BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer dominates his little brother by 21 cm while being also 5 cm higher. The Gran Tourer has a steeper rear window which creates a higher roofline for additional space, and the larger rear doors which facilitate entry into the second and third row.
The exterior dimensions are: 4,556 x 1,800 x 1,608 mm (179.3 inches long, 70.9 inches wide and 63.3 inches tall). The majority of the added length is concentrated within the wheelbase, which has grown by 110mm to 2780m.
On the back seat of the Gran Tourer, up to three child seats can be attached side-by-side, and the middle seat can be positioned in the opposite direction of travel.
Practicality? Checked. Looks? Not our cup of tea, but Europeans love a prestigious badge on a great, versatile car.
I don’t get the 2 series active tourer… Why wouldn’t you just get an X3 instead? You get a much cooler vehicle, same abilities (and more), and you’re not degrading yourself to soccer mom status.
This might come as a surprise to you… you’re not the only person on earth!
hahaha
I guess the older demographics must be catered to
There’s also plenty of people that consider buying an SUV-esque vehicle for use simply in Urban environments a douchey thing to do.
Because it’s at least 40% more expensive. Because it’s not practical for the elderly. Because they don’t like the outdated looking X3. Because it’s smaller than the X3…
The fact that you consider this popularity “unexpected” should make you reconsider your preconceptions about the brand and the market. But obviously you’re not there yet. We, as U.S. customers, get ridiculous cars like the 3 and 5 GT and the X4 and X6 dangled in front of us, but can’t have a sensible car like the active tourer, let alone the plug-in hybrid version, because of some juvenile, narrow, outdated notion of what a BMW is. Get with it.
Active Tourer 225 iPerformance as it is now known.
Has been federalised for the US market and is being tested there in regards to offer a more conventional and less expensive option than the BMW i3 to challenge and compete with the more spacious C – segment cars like the Volt,Prius and Leaf.
The BMW X1 is to receive a. iPerformance model which will be offered for North America and two MINI PHEV options in the guise of the MINI Clubman and imminent MINI Countryman replacement.
X1 25xe iPerformance would be as close as it gets to the perfect 2016 daily. Spacious enough, practical, very unisex design (i saw the AT with a dude in it and… it was gross), fuel efficient, environment friendly without having no go, and that nice AWD touch.
Plus in my country it would start at 40k € (after taxes) which is more than respectable. That’s a correct spec 318d (leather, basic tech, 17″), or a fully spec 175hp Renault Talisman (between 3 and 5 series size-wise).
I still think the Active Tourer was a bit unnecessary, just push customers towards the Gran Tourer.
Different demographics. This site posted an article about the average of the buyers for these cars a while ago, basically old people buy the AT, and young peole buy the GT… try asking either of those groups to compromise.
I think BMW nailed it. They needed this car. It’s not for you or me, but there is a special demographic for it.
No pics of the interior. I bet it’s full of plastic.
The North American European car imported is the lousest in the world !