BMW Australia believes the new 1 Series can match the performance of the all-conquering Volkswagen Golf GTI. Speaking at the recent launch of the F20 1 Series, BMW’s Toni Andreevski said, “We want to price [an upcoming 1-Series model] it as a Golf GTI competitor. It will have Golf GTI-rivalling performance.”

At initial launch the 118i is, on paper, the closest match to the GTI. With just 125kW on tap it is 30kW down on power, which translates in a 0-100km/h time 0.5 seconds slower than the GTI. However, BMW say they have a new 160kW 1er powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine on the way which they expect will tempt buyers away from Volkswagen.

In order to help make that case more compelling they will sharpen their pencils. Helping to offer a competitive price they will cut out some expensive equipment options.

“We are looking at more of our performance models in the 1-Series hatch and bringing them in a lot more sharply priced,” says Andreevski.

“You’ll see from us a lot flatter price structure [in future]. We want to communicate the performance of the car and let the customer choose [what options they want]. It’s all about being more customer focused.”

So, if you were in the market for a hot hatch would you pick the 1 Series hatch over a similarly priced GTI. Or would you choose another hot hatch altogether?

[Source: Drive]