Feature laden BMW X1 a dark horse of the Indian SUV scene

BMW, the German automotive marque and country's favourite imported premium luxury and sports car maker, enjoys an enviable position in the Indian market. The world renowned automobile maker has been a leading luxury car brand in the country for last few years, despite facing stiff competition from its fellow German players – Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

Feature laden BMW X1 – a dark horse of the Indian SUV scene

Industry experts believe that one of the most defining aspects of BMW vehicles, are their best-in-class designing, fuel economy along with state-of-the-art interior and exterior attributes. One of the most compelling example of a BMW vehicle that has been revelling in Indian scene, is the BMW X1 compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

The BMW X1 has been a revelation in the Indian luxury car market, and most of the critics have been showering the compact SUV with positive and inspiring comments. With a base price around Rs. 22.5 lacs, the X1 is the German automobile maker's cheapest offering and the company regards the compact SUV among one of its most popular products in the domestic domain. BMW offers three variants of X1 to the Indian car aficionados, namely - BMW X1 sDrive 18i (petrol), BMW X1 sDrive20d (diesel) and BMW X1 sDrive 20d Exclusive, which carry retail values around Rs. 22.5 lacs, Rs. 24.5 lacs and Rs. 30.5 lacs, respectively.

Coming to under the hood specifications of diesel BMW X1, the world class product comes assimilated with a 2.0 litre, 1995 cc, four cylinder diesel powerplant, which churns out a maximum power of 177 bhp and a peak torque of 350 Nm. The engine assembly is mated to a six speed automatic transmission system, besides featuring a number of sophisticated technologies, such as common-rail fuel injection, variable intake geometry and turbochargers. Further, the BMW X1 sDrive 18i (petrol) comes loaded with a 2.0 litre, 1995 cc, four cylinder power-mill that rolls out a maximum power and torque delivery of 150 bhp and 200 Nm, respectively.

Interestingly, the conventional SUVs marketed in the country fall short in every aspect of the BMW X1, even though having a grander engine. For instance popular SUVs like Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Mitsubishi Pajero SFX, Hyundai Santa Fe and the freshly launched SsangYong Rexton - all have an engine between 2.5 litre and 3.0 litre and yet they fail to match the BMW X1 in terms of power and performance. The compact SUV delivers superior fuel economy, besides the pricing of X1 also favours its odds against the popular SUVs in the country.

The BMW X1 comes trimmed with a number of world class attributes, such as airbags at front, rear and side ends, engine immobiliser, smart alarm system and central locking, central locking release, child locking system, caution warning and interior lights, disabling vehicle electrics and fuel system feature through a safety battery terminal clamp. Coming to the security attributes, the BMW X1 has been assimilated with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Cornering Brake Control (CBC), Automatic Stability Control (ASC + T), Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD). Thus, feature wise nothing in the segment beats BMW X1 on Indian roads.