SPY PICS: BMW's three-box 1 Series to battle CLA

Munich is late to the party, but its 1 Series sedan will soon be entering the market niche already occupied by Audi's A3 sedan and the Mercedes-Benz CLA, judging by these spy pics, taken somewhere in the Arctic Circle.

Following in the wheel tracks of the 2 Series Active Tourer, the 1 Series sedan is based on the UKL platform and drives through the front wheels. It will be the first front-driven model from BMW to bear the 1 Series nameplate.

Rumour has it that the sedan will be positioned at a price below the Active Tourer's entry level – around $44,000 in Australia. It will plug a hole in BMW's line-up currently being exploited by its two principal competitors in Germany.

The shorter-than customary BMW bonnet pictured in the photos betrays the car's front-wheel drive underpinnings, but does expand the interior space available for passengers. That said, there is no suggestion the sedan will share any body panels with the mini MPV.

But it is presumed that the sedan 1 Series will offer engine-transmission hardware in common with the Active Tourer's, including lower-output engines not available in Australia, as well as the 100kW 218i 1.5-litre three-cylinder, the two 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines (the latter in 141kW 220i and 170kW 225i configurations), and a 110kW 218d 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel. The petrol and diesel engines in the Active Tourer are hooked up to eight-speed auto transmissions while the three-cylinder gets a six-speed auto box – once again, the same would logically apply to the 1 Series sedan.

The 1 Series sedan is expected to arrive on European markets either late this year, or early in 2016.