Automotive News Europe - November 2019 - 16

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The new BMW 3-series wagon features an upward sloping third window that is meant to give the car "a dynamic
wedge shape that embodies its forward-surging intent."

BMW aims 3-series wagon
at top Europe markets
B

MW is counting on the sixth generation of its 3-series station wagon to
continue to be a heavyweight for the
model range in two of Europe's top five
markets. The 3-series Touring accounts
for just a quarter of the midsize model
range's global sales, which are dominated
by the sedan. However, the wagon represents 75 percent of the car line's volume
in Italy and 66 percent in Germany.
That level of demand is why Europe accounts for more than 70 percent of global
wagon sales, according to JATO Dynamics. Broken down further, wagons make
up nearly 20 percent of sales in Germany,
Europe's biggest market. The 3-series
wagon also has a strong following in the
UK and is offered in global markets such

as Japan, South Korea and Australia. Like
its sedan sibling, the new 3-series wagon is
longer, wider and taller. The length grows
79mm to 4709mm, the width gains16mm
to 1827mm and height is increased 8mm
to 1470mm. In addition, the wheelbase is
41mm longer at 2,851mm.
BMW says the wagon's look is sportier
because it now has an upward sloping
third window, that gives the car "a dynamic wedge shape that embodies its
forward-surging intent." The tweaks to
the exterior also result in better aerodynamics as the drag coefficient is down
to 0.27 compared with 0.29 for the previous-generation wagon.
The wagon's luggage capacity with five
passengers has increased by 5 liters to

Fast Facts
❚ Combustion: The 3-series Touring of-

fers a wide variety of engines. The gasoline
family has two 2.0-liter, four-cylinder variants
with either 181 hp or 254 hp and a 3.0-liter,
six-cylinder version with 369 hp. The diesel
range includes two 2.0-liter, four-cylinder
variants with either 148 hp or 187 hp and a
3.0-liter, six-cylinder version with 251 hp.
❚ Hybrid: A plug-in hybrid version will
debut in July 2020. The 330e will offer
combined powered of 228 hp from its

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four-cylinder gasoline engine and electric motor. The 330e will have an electric-only range of 63 km, helping the car
achieve estimated CO2 emissions of 42
to 52 grams per kilometer, according to
the NEDC-correlated test values.

The Basics
❚ Launch date: September 2019

(November for some versions)

❚ Base price: 42,000 euros

(Germany)

❚ Where built: Munich, Germany
❚ Main rivals: Audi A4 Avant,

Mercedes C-class wagon

500 liters, boosting the maximum loading
room 10 liters to 1510 liters. To improve
the wagon's handling BMW increased the
body rigidity by 25 percent compared
with the model it replaces and gave the
vehicle a new spring and damping system
with lift-related damper control.
The wagon's powertrain family include a
trio of diesel and three gasoline options.
In an effort to help future-proof the wagon niche Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have
added plug-in hybrid versions of the
models. BMW will join the growing sector next summer with the 330e, which
can travel 63 km in electric-only mode.
Another technological advancement the
3-series wagon offers is that the software
for all of its electronic control units can
be upgraded via over-the-air updates.
-- Andrea Malan

NOVEMBER 2019

http://www.autonewseurope.com

Automotive News Europe - November 2019

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