The new BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe has been elected the “Most Beautiful Car of the Year” at the 2020 edition of the Festival Automobile International exhibition, held in Paris between January 29th and February 2nd. After the online ballots on the official website of the Festival Automobile International, the public chose the new compact Gran Coupe from Munich to receive the coveted title for the “Most Beautiful Car of the Year 2020”.
The voting session was open between December 6th, 2019 and January 19th, 2020. The new 2 Series Gran Coupe (F44 generation) competed against other 5 contenders: the new Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe, the Land Rover Defender, the Ford Puma, the Peugeot e-208, and the Mazda 3.
After this first round of votes, the first 3 candidates mentioned in the list were eliminated, with the F44 2 Series left to battle the electric e-208 and the Mazda 3 in the final part of the online voting.
Even though it is compact-sized model, the new F44 2 Series does a great job at displaying proportions of a car from a bigger class. This is the effect of the clever design philosophy that was applied. The new 2 Series Gran Coupe boasts a powerful front-end, highlighted by the broad connected kidney grille and the polygonal LED headlights which deeply evoke the traditional four-eyed architecture. What’s more, the honeycomb pattern of the grille adds further depth to the kidneys.
The new F44 generation is also distinguished by the harmoniously flowing roofline, the upward-swinging side window line, the reinterpreted Hofmeister kink and the muscular rear shoulder, which further deliver the sensation of a BMW coupe.
At the rear-end, the width and presence of the car are deeply accentuated by the elongating rear lights, which extend towards the centrally placed BMW logo, and the high-gloss black element that connects the lights and encircle the blue-white roundel.
The new BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe is the second model to be developed on the FAAR front-driven platform, after the F40 1 Series. The car impresses with its pronouncedly dynamic silhouette and the all-rounding equipment and motoring package. The compact-sized Gran Coupe makes benefit of the latest assistance systems and connectivity solutions, such as the state-of-the-art BMW OS 7.0 infotainment system with the BMW Live Cockpit digital instrument cluster.
Photo Comparison: BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé (F44) fights back at the Mercedes-Benz CLA
In addition, at the start of sales programmed for Spring 2020, the new 2 Series Gran Coupe will be available with a range of three engines in Europe and most of the markets: the petrol 218i with 140 PS (138 hp), the diesel-powered 220d with 190 PS (187 hp) and the range-topping M235i xDrive with 306 PS (302 hp). Exclusively for the US market, BMW will also offer the 228i xDrive petrol version, boasting a peak output 231 PS (228 hp).
In the future, you can expect more power choices and xDrive variants to be added for the European models, such as the 220d xDrive Gran Coupe and the 220i (possibly to be offered in xDrive configuration as well).
