135i 1 Series Low Miles 2 Dr Convertible Automatic Gasoline 3.0l Straight 6 Cyl on 2040-cars

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BMW won't bring front-drive 2 Series tourers to US

BMW may have rolled out a new front-drive 2 Series in overseas markets, but according to the latest from Automotive News, it won't be bringing it to the United States anytime soon. The model line consists of the 2 Series Active Tourer – the company's first front-drive model – and its extended counterpart, the 2 Series Gran Tourer, which was introduced just last week at the Geneva Motor Show. Though available with all-wheel drive, their front-drive underpinnings make them a radical departure for the Bavarian automaker, which has made a name for itself on rear-drive architecture. The development is not unlike the path which Mercedes has pursued with models like the A-Class hatchback, B-Class minivan, CLA four-door coupe and GLA crossover. BMW evidently thinks, however, that even in its longer Gran Tourer form, the 2 Series hatchback is still too small for the US market, where minivans have grown far beyond their miniature dimensions. The 2 Series name will continue to be offered on the rear-drive coupe and convertible that were spun off of the 1 Series and which are unrelated to the front-drive hatchback and minivan. The X1, however, is slated to switch to the front-drive platform shared with the company's Mini brand.

Audi investing $30.3 billion through 2018 for product expansion

How does Audi plan to reach two million units in annual sales and pay for the 11 new models it's adding to its lineup - an expansion that may include models named SQ2, Q9 and F-Tron? By increasing its investment to 22 billion euros ($30.3 billion US) between now and 2018. That figure represents an increase of about 500 million euros over the previously planned outlay, according to a report by Automotive News, and that could be due to Audi wishing to goad the momentum that pushed it to 1.5 million annual sales two years ahead of schedule.
It's also about staving off the challenges from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Now that BMW has been able to turn some of its attention away from its "i" series of Megacity cars, it will reportedly spend more than planned in 2014 as it continues the rollout of ten all-new vehicles and 15 new-generation vehicles through the end of next year. Mercedes, having been dropped to third in the sales race, is preparing to add 13 new cars over the next six years.
Audi's money is going into technology, into product like the next-generation TT and the Q1 and production expansions and upgrades all over the world. The expenditure represents just under a fourth of Volkswagen's 84.2 billion-euro ($115.7 US) outlay devoted to taking the number-one global automaker title away from General Motors and Toyota by 2018.

Senior VP Hildegard Wortmann says BMW's electric journey is just beginning

Anyone who questions BMW's effort or sincerity on electrified vehicles should have a chat with Hildegard Wortmann, the German automaker's senior vice president over product management for automobiles and aftersales. I was fortunate to do just that at the Detroit North American International Auto Show earlier this year. ABG: Where might BMW go with electrified vehicles beyond your i3 urban EV and i8 high-performance hybrid sports car? "That [regulatory] train has left the station" - Hildegard Wortmann HW: I think a big advantage is that we now have two bookends: BMW i [green] and BMW M [high performance]. We can use those bookends to foster the BMW brand in total. Are electrified vehicles the answer to CAFE and European regulations? Is that the future? We don't know, but that [regulatory] train has left the station. To achieve all of these regulations worldwide, there is no way to do it without electrification. That is why the activities of BMW i are not just to launch new products. They are our build-up in competence for learning and gaining experience in electrification. We will use those learnings for the total BMW brand. Technology-wise, we now have a really good understanding of what to do, what not to do, how to work with this and how to get a lot of learnings from the infrastructure and everything that goes with it. And depending on how quickly the market takes off, we can scale it and use it across the range. We will use the competence we will have in vehicle electrification for more than just BMW i. There will be other derivatives and electrification of other products. ABG: Do you see BMW offering pure EVs with larger batteries for greater range? HW: That's a big feature of the Tesla. The question is to find the best balance [of range vs. battery size, weight and cost]. On the i3, we tried to have the right balance between how much range customers need for daily driving and how much battery we put in there. The market will show us. We have over a million kilometers driven by consumers in the Mini E and ActiveE and a fairly good understanding that those people are not driving that much. Putting a really big battery with all that weight into a car that is meant for urban mobility does not make sense. ABG: What about extended-range EVs beyond the i3's optional small range extender engine? "This whole EV movement is in its very early stages." HW: This whole EV movement is in its very early stages.