RETURN OF THE KING

摘要

ONCE AGAIN, A CAR BUILT FOR US. IT WASN'T THE AUDI A4. It wasn't the Cadillac ATS. The real 3-series killer was BMW's quest for sales growth, which demanded a sport sedan that didn't offend anyone. The F30 3-series arrived in 2012 with light, mute steering. The result: more sales volume, less fidelity to the original mission. Distracted while enhancing the dynamism of coupe-styled crossovers, BMW awoke to find its Neue Klasse outclassed. In a sport-sedan shootout we held two years ago, the Bimmer came in second, having had sand kicked in its face by a Lexus IS 350. A Lexus!