2014 BMW 1 Series Gran Turismo Spied

While it's summer down here in Australia, it's the middle of winter in the Northern hemisphere.

Snow, icy roads and plunging temperatures might not sound appealing to most, but to car manufacturers it's perfect weather for testing and refining their next-generation products before they hit the showroom floor.

BMW has been hard at work putting its upcoming front-wheel drive hatchback through its paces in Northern Europe.

Last week we got a glimpse of a MINI-bodied test mule (the new BMW hatch will share its platform with the next-gen MINI Cooper), but this week we can finally lay eyes on a more correctly-dimensioned prototype - albeit one that's heavily camouflaged.