2005 4.4i 4.4l Auto Titanium Silver Metallic on 2040-cars

Auto blog

A BMW i3 will cost you $100,000 in Brazil

Brazil is a long way from the US, and the price of the BMW i3 in that South American country is even further away from what Americans pay for the same electric vehicle. But that hasn't stopped a few wealthy Brazilians from taking the plunge. The BMW i3 REx – i.e., the one with the gas-powered range-extender – is the first mass-produced vehicle of its kind to be imported to Brazil (there are a few Nissan Leaf vehicles in fleet use), and those intrepid buyers are forking over about $100,000 to own the vehicle, according to Just-Auto. The country's first 100 i3's were recently received in Sao Paolo, and about 30 of them have been sold. That pricetag is a wee bit higher than in the US, where the i3 starts under $42,000. BMW did open a $261-million factory in Brazil this year, but the i3 continues to be produced exclusively in Germany. It's not just fancy new plug-in cars and World Cup tickets that cost a lot in Brazil. The Volkswagen Golf, which retails for less than $18,000 in the States, costs about $23,000 in Brazil and the Economist ran a series of articles last year explaining how currency changes have resulted in the dollar-to-Brazilian real exchange rate surging in recent years.

BMW mulling potential 9 Series production

Nine months may be long enough to bring another human being into the world, but it may take BMW a bit longer to make up its mind on the production of a potential 9 Series model. The idea was first mooted when the Bavarian automaker presented the Vision Future Luxury concept at the Beijing Motor Show last year. Billed (not unlike rival Audi's Prologue concept) more as a design study than a pre-production concept, the Vision Future Luxury show car nevertheless took a larger form than the 7 Series, prompting speculation that a new flagship sedan could be in the works. The better part of a year later, such a decision has reportedly yet to be taken, but over at BMW Blog they're reporting that the automaker's incoming chief executive Harald Kruger is a fan of the idea and could give it the green light after he takes the helm in May. If approved, the model likely to be dubbed 9 Series would reportedly compete with the Mercedes-Maybach S600 – but then that model was earmarked to take on the Rolls-Royce Ghost. BMW has typically been careful not to overlap with its Rolls-Royce division, but considering how it's also been going downmarket with front-drive models to close the gap to the Mini brand, we wouldn't be all that surprised to see the 9 Series positioned maybe just below the next-generation Ghost and developed alongside it, taking a page out of rival VW's playbook. Volkswagen has, after all, made a brisk business out of sharing platforms and slicing market segments between the various brands under its umbrella. And while BMW is nowhere near as large, its new leadership could find new ways to increase its market share.

BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe and Concept 90 pics from Villa d'Este

Royalty and the ultra-wealthy rubbed damp shoulders at this past weekend's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on the shores of Italy's Lake Como, but even the rain couldn't extinguish the excitement generated by the millions of dollars of cars and bikes on display. Nowhere was this more true than with BMW, which marked the occasion with the reveal of two stunning concepts with six wheels between them - the shark-nosed Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe and the retrosexual Concept 90 motorcycle.
Conceived with Italian design house Pininfarina, the Gran Lusso Coupe is a power broker on 21-inch wheels. While we're not completely sold on every element of its design, this twelve-cylinder two-door concept moves us more than the current 6 Series, and not just because it has four more cylinders underhood and 48,000-year-old kauri wood paneling inside. BMW is sadly mum on production hopes, but we're not entirely optimistic - the company has graced us with a number of attractive concepts at Villa d'Este before, only to pack them away again without ever affording them a production future.
If one of these concepts has a better shot at finding its way into dealers, we have to believe it's the Concept 90 under the BMW Motorrad umbrella. Designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of BMW's R 90 S, we think this Roland Sands Design air-cooled boxer would look fantastic on today's streets, especially with the rising popularity of vintage motorcycles and cafe racers.