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BMW broadens engine bolt recall to nearly half-million cars worldwide

Almost one month ago, we reported on a BMW investigation into a potentially defective bolt that lived in the company's VANOS variable valve timing system. At that point, the potential recall was seemingly limited to Chinese-market cars; the company was filing a recall application with Chinese officials.
Today, Bloomberg is reporting that the engine bolt issue has expanded into a recall for several world markets, involving some 489,000 vehicles. BMW was able to verify that report to Autoblog, while also providing a great deal more detail about the issue and vehicles affected.
The recall affects vehicles powered by N55 inline six-cylinder gasoline engines equipped with VANOS and Valvetronic technologies. 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series and 5 Series Gran Turismo, X3, X5, X6 and Z4 models from the 2010 to 2012 model years are included, as is the 2012 6 Series.

Audi to spend $17 billion to fight BMW

It's no secret that VW Group, parent company to not only Volkswagen but also Audi, Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche and Ducati brands sold in the US, is determined to become the world's largest automaker. Even more impressive is that VW is prepared to spend billions to make it happen.
With that comes word that VW Group will be spending $17 billion on its Audi brand over the next three years to push itself above rival BMW. The money will be invested in both vehicle development (including lightweight auto design and alternative powertrains) and facilities (including expansion in Hungary, China and new operations in Mexico). The luxury brand is focused on global manufacturing infrastructure.
Already Europe's best-selling luxury brand, Audi's objective is to overtake BMW by the end of the decade by selling more than two million cars per year (BMW is shooting for 1.54 million sales in 2013). If those objectives are met, VW Group should be on track to be the industry's volume leader by 2018.

BMW slapped with discrimination suit by EEOC

According to a report from CNNMoney, BMW has been hit with a lawsuit from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after revised criminal background check policies resulted in the dismissal of 88 contractors, 70 of whom (that's about 80 percent) were black. A total of 645 contractors were required to submit to background checks at BMW's facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina after BMW switched contract companies at its plant.
Though the 88 persons who were not rehired by the new contractor all had criminal records, that may not necessarily be a legal way to screen applicants, as the EEOC counters: "BMW's policy has no time limit with regard to convictions. The policy is a blanket exclusion without any individualized assessment of the nature and gravity of the crimes, the ages of the convictions, or the nature of the claimants' respective positions."
BMW's actions were in violation of the Civic Rights Act of 1964, according to the EEOC, because they utilized "a criminal conviction policy that disproportionately screened out African-Americans." A recent bulletin offering guidance from the EEOC on the Civil Rights Act can be found here, but the EEOC's stance on the issue has been the same for years: "Since issuing its first written policy guidance in the 1980s regarding the use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions, the EEOC has advised employers that under certain circumstances, their use of that information to deny employment opportunities could be at odds with Title VII."