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BMW predicts 2 Series Active Tourer will have 75% conquest rate

In the last few years, BMW has definitively proven that it wasn't a slave to its legacy. In the US, the 3 Series was generally associated with smooth, flat-six engines, but the Bavarian brand dropped a four-cylinder turbo into it. The company was also known for its sports sedans, and it went green with the i3 and i8. Now, rear-wheel drive is off the table as defining its vehicles, as well. With the imminent launch of the 2 Series Active Tourer, the Bavarian's models are going front drive and opening up themselves to a whole new group of customers, so the thinking goes.
"We are expecting the Active Tourer will have a conquest rate of around 75 percent," said Frank Niederlaender, a BMW product manger, to Automotive News Europe. If you're not hip to the lingo, that means three quarters of the hatchback's buyers would come from other brands - an impressive figure, if accurate.
When it hits the road, the 2 Series Active Tourer will be the first BMW-branded vehicle to use the company's UKL front-wheel drive platform, already on the current Mini Cooper. The roomy hatchback is aimed at young families looking for a car that is luxurious but can still tote around the tots. It launches in Europe in September to compete against similar models like the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, but the Bimmer isn't crossing the Atlantic to the US until early 2015, according to ANE.

2016 BMW 3 Series First Drive [w/video]

If the 3 Series were a person, it would suffer from crippling anxiety. This has nothing to do with the way the car behaves on the road, and it's not a result of its styling. No, it's because so many people expect so much from the 3er. The model is held to the highest standard, which it tends to set itself, and when it doesn't deliver, it hears about it. So it was when BMW introduced the F30 3 Series sedan for 2012. This was a good 3 Series, but few thought it was great. The car lost some of its edge, instead chasing the comfy-luxury crowd that arguably makes up more of the buying public. The vocal Bimmer-loving minority wasn't pleased. Critics, us included, called the car out for its soft suspension tuning, less-than-perfect electric power steering, and chintzy interior details. Enthusiasts instead waxed nostalgic about the E90 generation that came before. But now, the 3 Series can relax again. BMW managed to address most of the issues in this F30 refresh for 2016. The suspension has been reworked, the steering programming overhauled, and the interior is now more befitting a dignified sporty thing from a luxury brand. For good measure, BMW is introducing a new turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six with more power that the car didn't really need. BMW is introducing a new turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six with more power that the car didn't really need. That new engine comes with a new out-of-thin-air badge, 340i, replacing the 335i and its N55 six. The updated 3 Series sedan will continue to be offered as a 320i with a turbo four, and both sedan and wagon keep a 328i with a higher-power version of the same engine, as well as a 328d turbodiesel. While those models' engines are unchanged, they all benefit from minor exterior styling updates (lights and bumpers) and the de-cheapified interior, as well most of the mechanical updates. Most of the content from the former Sport Line package, like Sport seats, the Sport transmission, Sport gauges, gloss black exterior trim, and black exhaust tips, is now standard on all but the 320i. Those extra standard features and the new engine bump the price up $2,050, from $44,745 for the 2015 335i sedan to $46,795 for a 340i. Our test drive focused on the 340i, since it's got the new engine. The B58 mill is a single solitary cubic centimeter off of the N55 3.0-liter's it replaces, but it's based on a new modular architecture.

Ram and Alfa Romeo top J.D. Power study of best automaker websites

Imagining a new car can be terrific fun, especially if the new car is an Alfa Romeo. So say the fantasy engineers at the J.D. Power agency, who’ve found that Alfa and Ram, sister brands under the Stellantis umbrella, offer potential buyers the most attractive consumer websites, which are often their first viable encounter with those vehicles. Power found that those marques lead the mass market and premium categories in its twice annual Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study. In the premium segment, Alfa Romeo led with 755 points, up six points over BMW, 10 points ahead of Infiniti, 14 points past of Jaguar, and 18 points up on Porsche. By contrast, Volvo and Audi trail the pack with 689 points, and are behind Genesis (699 points), Tesla (720), and Cadillac (721), all of which perform worse than the premium segment average of 724 points. The summerÂ’s study showed that in the mass market segment, Ram leads with an impressive 735 points, which puts it six points ahead of GMC, seven points atop its stablemate Jeep, eight points beyond Subaru, and 22 points ahead of the industry average. Volkswagen finished dead last among mass market names, but only one point behind Ford, 684 to 683 out of a possible 1,000. Segment average, as noted, was 713 points. “Website satisfaction can be volatile, and automotive websites are not immune to changing preferences,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “However, manufacturers have shown to be very agile when it comes to website design and ensuring their sites meet modern standards, more so than many other industries, as exemplified through the study data.” Marketing/Advertising Alfa Romeo Audi BMW Ford Volkswagen