The BMW Group continues its upward trend in sales: The company increased global sales of its three premium automobile brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, by 10.8% (120,843 / prev. yr. 109,049) in May. Deliveries for the year to the end of May climbed 13.3% to 552,864 vehicles (prev. yr. 487,914).
Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing: “The sales trend remains positive – we reported healthy double-digit growth once again in May. Thanks to our numerous new models, such as the BMW 5 Series and the BMW X1, we are on course to maintain our position as the world’s leading manufacturer of premium vehicles throughout 2010.”
The BMW brand sold 101,775 … CONTINUED
BMW’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina recorded another milestone in their 15 year history as the 1 millionth BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle® rolled off the production line today at BMW Manufacturing Co. The Black Sapphire X5 xDrive 35i with Cinnamon Brown Nevada Leather interior is bound for a customer in China.
This is a significant achievement for the BMW Group’s only U.S. manufacturing facility at a time when the manufacturer is just months away from completing a $750 million expansion to prepare for production of the next generation BMW X3.
The BMW X5, which was originally launched in Spartanburg in 1999 as the first vehicle in the Sports Activity segment, has laid the cornerstone for BMW as the most successful premium vehicle manufacturer in the SAV/SUV segment … CONTINUED
BMW car designs have often been at the forefront of automotive styling, pioneering looks and design elements which would be emulated by the entire industry. BMWism takes a look at the famous (and some not so famous) designers responsible for BMW’s legendary styling. Do you know who penned your favorite BMWs?
There has been some recent resurgence in the conversation surrounding the actual origins of the BMW Logo. Do the colors represent the colors of the bavarian flag in reverse? Or does it originate from early BMW marketing posters that links BMW to airplane engines and the spinning propeller against a blue sky?
The Internal Revenue Service today certified that the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 qualifies for up to a $900 tax credit under the Alternative Motor Vehicle provision. This serves as yet another endorsement for the BMW EfficientDynamics strategy.
The ActiveHybrid 7 combines an electric motor with BMW’s much-praised 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 and new 8-speed automatic transmission to accelerate from 0 – 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds while delivering impressive EPA fuel economy estimates of 17 mpg city and 26 mpg highway, a near 18 percent improvement over the non-hybrid 750i/Li. The ActiveHybrid 7 features Engine Start/Stop to avoid wasteful engine idling in stop-and-go driving and at traffic lights. The powerful lithium-ion battery enables systems like the radio, Bluetooth phone connection and air-conditioning to … CONTINUED
At the premiere of the 17th BMW Art Car Jeff Koons unveiled and signed his car in front of 300 international VIP guests on June 1 in the Centre Pompidou, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions for modern and contemporary art. It is the same place where Roy Lichtenstein back in 1977 first presented and signed his Art Car.
In the spirit of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, BMW announced this year that the 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the … CONTINUED
BMW M division has launched the M Power Drivers Cup and M Power Circuit Training for BMW M owners, each of which lasts two days. Unfortunately for North American M enthusiasts, these two driving events appear to take place only in Germany. Hopefully some of our European members will participate and allow us to enjoy the experience vicariously.
BMW has been presented with two accolades at this year’s Fleet World Honors – Best Executive Car award for the 2011 5-series and Fleet Manufacturer of the Year award for BMW overall. Steve Moody, judge panel chairman, explained: ‘The new BMW 5 Series has taken the executive sector up yet another notch, with an engine line-up second to none for emissions and performance, generous standard specification, superb whole-life costs, class-leading residual values and a quality unparalleled even in this extremely competitive market.’
As if it wasn’t already difficult enough to source BMW euro-market only parts for our BMWs, it has just become even harder as BMWNA has now apparently stopped all sales of BMW European parts through its dealers in the US. Previously, generally, if you could provide a BMW parts department with an european market part number, they could order it for you. That will no longer be the case and we will all have to look to 3rd party suppliers or independent sellers for our european-only BMW parts going forward.
