New car introductions are getting boringly formulaic these days. It seems nearly every manufacturer follows the same program that starts with the concept show car and leads to unofficial prototype spy photos, then onto OEM teasers and 'official' spy shots. A few videos follow and by then, a microsite has already been born.
It's a precisely timed procedure, but often the most difficult part is keeping official vehicle images under wraps until the proper date. Case in point: BMW's X1 small luxury crossover, of which official-looking photos have just been dispersed on the Web a bit ahead of schedule.
We spotted BMW's smallest soft-roader a few days ago running around the 'Ring with hardly any camouflage on its sheet metal. With just a few strips of black tape for disguise, we noted that the new model featured rounder, softer lines than its concept we saw in Paris last year.
Come production time, it's safe to assume the 1-Series based CUV will use a series of four- and six-cylinder engines in possibly diesel and gasoline forms.
There is even talk of the brand's xDrive all-wheel drive being added to the option list, which wouldn't surprise us.
The X1 is due out at this September's Frankfurt show and will likely be closely followed by a worldwide market launch.