Latest BMW X1 Prototype Video in Mallorca

Joy is what you make of it. That's the payoff line at the end of this video clip showing the upcoming BMW X1 in what is now its familiar prototype garb. The tests were being done in Mallorca, Spain. Indications are that BMW is not pitching the X1 against tougher offroad vehicles. On the clip the tiny SUV goes through its paces by firstly negotiating a gravel track with haystacks as apex points.

Later it takes a drive up a mountain pass, still on dirt. Then we see it on twisty asphalt, probably the car's best surface. BMW always puts driving pleasure ahead of all else so that the car excels on tar is by design and not by default.

Launch models will be the xDrive20d which produces 130kW (177hp) and has an economy figure of 5.8 litres per 100km. There's also the xDrive23d worth 150kW (204hp) and two entry level models namely the xDrive18i and xDrive18d.

They say if you can't beat them, join them and that is what BMW seems to be doing. No longer able to keep the X1 away from spy lenses the company has decided to bare it all in public. Of course much of this helps hype the car up before its European introduction this summer.