Munich - BMW has released the first teaser picture of its upcoming 2 Series Gran Coupe, and along with it some vital information about what’s under the skin of the Mercedes CLA rival.
Speculation has diverted over whether the new ‘four-door coupe’ would send its power to the front or back wheels, but BMW has now confirmed that it will indeed by underpinned by the company’s ULK front-wheel-drive platform, featuring transverse-mounted engines. That said, and although BMW hasn’t officially confirmed this, you can bet your bottom dollar that the more powerful variants of the 2 Series GC will offer all-wheel-drive.
The vehicle is set to be revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November this year before being rolled out to world markets from the second quarter of 2020.
The engine range will inevitably include a mix of the latest three- and four-cylinder turbopetrol engines, and there is no word yet on whether the brand’s performance division will unleash a fully-fledged M2 version. It’s also not clear whether the 2 Series Coupe will eventually migrate to the ULK platform.
Confirmed: 1 Series also going FWD
The X1 and 2 Series Active Tourer are already built around this front-driven architecture, as are the Mini models, and BMW has now confirmed what many already knew was inevitable - that the next-generation 1 Series will also move over to this platform.
Which is sad for enthusiasts, but a hard logic to argue against considering previous research (conducted by BMW itself) showing that 80 percent of 1 Series drivers don’t even know which wheels are driven.