BMW X1 US launch delayed – because the new X3 is so good

BMW X1 - not in the US until late 2012

It would have been inconceivable just a few years ago that there could ever be a market in the US for a car like the BMW X1. But times have changed and even Americans see the benefits of a (much) smaller SUV, so BMW was originally planning on launching the X1 in the US around now.

That X1 launch got put back until later in 2011 because the Leipzig plant – which builds the X1 – was running at capacity to meet the demands from Europe. But now the US launch has been delayed yet again, but this time because of the success of the new X3.

It appears that Americans have taken to the new BMW X3 with gusto, snapping up more than four times as many X3s in the first quarter of 2011 as they did in the first quarter of 2010 – almost as many as the old X3 sold in the whole of last year.

Which, if nothing else, does at least prove that Americans are starting to appreciate decent European cars – and also that the new BMW X3 is a very good car.

It now looks as if BMW will delay the launch of the X1 until late in 2012. That will give enough time for the demand for the X3 to settle down in the US and for the rest of the world to get all the X1s it wants.

And BMW are also realistic about their expectations for the X1 in the US. They see it as very much a niche vehicle with expectations of just 5,000 sales a year. So why bother launching it now and confusing those poor American X3 buyers with another pocket-sized BMW SUV?

Interestingly, the delay for the X1 in the US doesn’t carry over to their neighbours in the north – Canada sees the BMW X1 launch in June.

By Cars UK