There’s little doubt that BMW upset purists when they decided to launch the 2-Series Active Tourer, which was eventually followed by the Grand Tourer.

And this was for a very good reason, as both of them are using the UKL front-wheel drive platform that underpins the latest X1 and some MINI models as well.

This decision has been seen as a sacrilege by some fans of the German car company, but the bet to go down the FWD road eventually paid off, as the two compact minivans were the third-best selling in their segment, from January to September, this year.

According to a report published by AutoNews, citing data compiled by JatoDynamics, the German manufacturer managed to move 77,644 of them in the European Union and EFTA (Europe Free Trade Association). The 2-Series was only topped by the Citroen C4 Picasso and Grand Picasso, with 85,390 units, and by the Volkswagen Touran, which is the segment leader, with 88,169 examples delivered.

Fourth place is held by Ford, with their C-Max and Grand C-Max, which accounted for 64,016 units, followed in fifth position by BMW’s premium rival, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, which was chosen by 56,325 buyers.

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