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European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

Alpina D3 may be coming to Frankfurt with 350 hp, AWD

Rumors are swirling that Alpina, the tuning house that specializes in all things BMW, will followup its Geneva debut of the B3 Bi-Turbo with an oil-burning variant slated for debut at September's Frankfurt Motor Show. The news comes from Auto Zeitung, which reports that the second-generation D3 will be based off the Europe-only 335d.
This is a departure from the last D3, which had the four-cylinder turbo-diesel from the BMW 123d in a 3 Series body. The new model is expected to use a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged inline-six, which will generate 350 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That should scoot it to 62 miles per hour in under five seconds (likely while towing a tree stump). Both rear- and all-wheel drive should be available on the D3, and we imagine the thrill of this much power channeled through just the two rear wheels to be akin to skydiving sans parachute.
For our European friends that want an Alpina D3, but don't need more torque than any American full-size pickup, there may be plans to offer a four-cylinder variant that still delivers Alpina performance without a compromise in economy. We'll have more on the Alpina D3 when it debuts at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

BMW shuffles chairs in its design department

BMW Group has made some changes to its design team since August 1, and has shuffled top personnel to different positions at BMW Design, Mini Design and Rolls-Royce.
The BMW Design team led by Karim Habib (middle, right) gains a new head of Exterior Design in Domagoj Dukec (right), who has worked for the exterior design team since 2010 and shaped the Concept Active Tourer.
Oliver Heilmer (left), who has worked for BMW's interior design unit since 2000 and designed the 5 Series interior, replaces Marc Girard as head of Interior Design BMW Automobiles. Marc Girard goes to manage BMW's subsidiary design group, BMW DesignworksUSA.