BMW: One Million 1-Series

Its no secret in the automotive industry that most vehicle lineups get bigger with each passing generation. When that happens, new models are often introduced to slot in.

The 1- Series is such a model - the 3-Series is and has continued to be BMW's bread and butter, but the 1-Series was introduced in a quest for volume. Ironically, it actually closer to the size of the original 3-Series.

Today, it reached an important milestone - one million 1-Series produced. That's right, after being introduced in 2004 and still on its first generation, one million have been sold.  This is largely without the help of the United States market as well.

The car was introduced in the U.S for the 2008 model year, and given our aversion to hatchbacks, only the coupe and convertible models were brought over.

There is also no standard four-door model available in markets anywhere around the world. One could be in the works for the car's next-generation iteration however, set to arrive sometime around 2012.

This further cement's the status of the 1-Series as an important BMW model, particularly in international markets who lean toward smaller vehicles.