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In Japan, you can buy your a BMW i3 on Amazon [UPDATE2]

UPDATE: The story's been updated to include a response from a BMW spokesman. UPDATE2: The story's been updated to include a response from a BMW's Germany headquarters. We love the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section for this one. Sleeping bags, cotton T-Shirts and a BMW i3 plug-in vehicle. That's your average Amazon shopping cart, right? It could be in Japan, where the plug-in car is being sold to potential customers online. The online retailer, long the largest in the US, is posting listings of the i3 on its Japanese site, notes Yahoo News, and both the standard electric i3 and the one with the gas-powered range extender are available. There are almost 50 dealers in Japan that can sell the i3, the German automaker's first production plug-in vehicle, but BMW appears to be trying to extend its distribution reach a little further. Of course, it's not a simple point-and-click situation, as prospective customers who order the vehicle online will apparently get a follow-up phone call from a BMW representative asking for proof of both access to a charging station as well as a parking spot. "It's become a tradition that the BMW Group breaks new ground with BMW i and that also goes for the way the vehicles are sold, with several different sales channels being tested and used," a representative with BMW's Germany headquarters wrote in an e-mail sent to AutoblogGreen. "In Japan, a one-off test project, designed only for that market – has seen BMW i3 models offered via Amazon. The delivery and customer service of these vehicles is, of course, handled by authorized BMW i dealers in Japan." BMW started selling the i3 in the US last year, moving about 6,100 units in 2014 and almost 2,700 through the first quarter of this year. Related Videos: Related Gallery 2014 BMW i3: First Drive View 33 Photos News Source: Amazon, Yahoo! News via Green Car Reports Green BMW Electric Amazon online

The importance of Angel Eyes, Ventiports and four round taillights

Just the other day, we told you about how Lincoln isn't really a luxury brand, according to Ford's head design man, J Mays. His argument was that Lincoln lacked the unique DNA to differentiate it from the rest of the market, although the arrival of the MKZ is beginning to change that. Now, we have this video from Autoline Detroit, where Jim Hall, an analyst for 2953 Analytics who was quoted in yesterday's Lincoln story, explains the influence of certain styling cues and how they impact the brands.
Using BMW (Angel Eyes) and Buick (Ventiports) as examples for small, simple touches that serve to distinguish the brand's vehicles on the road, Hall then points out how changing trademark styling features, as Chevrolet has done on the new Corvette Stingray, can hurt the vehicle's public perception. Take a look at the full video below for an interesting dive into what these styling features mean to their individual brands.

Weekly Recap: Ford guns for 2016 Le Mans glory with new GT

On the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford confirmed it will return to the French endurance race in 2016 and campaign the new GT racecar 50 years after three GT40s swept the podium at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The factory will back a two-team, four-car effort that will compete in the World Endurance Championship and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship running cars operated by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The GT racecar will make its track debut in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the driver lineup will be announced later. "But rest assured, there's quite a line forming out the door," Ganassi said at the announcement. The GT is the modern successor to the iconic GT40, which won Le Mans four straight years from 1966-1969. The racecar is a rolling testbed of Ford's latest technologies, including a powerful twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. The car also makes extensive use of carbon-fiber pieces and advanced aerodynamics. Ford tapped Multimatic Motorsports of Canada and Roush Yates Engines to aid in the development of the GT racer. The road-going version, which was revealed in January at the Detroit Auto Show, is also set to launch next year. It caps Ford's growing performance lineup, and the company has ambitious plans to launch more than 12 new sporty models by 2020, including hot metal like the Focus RS, F-150 Raptor, and Shelby GT350R. The GT embodies Ford's best tech, but news of its return to Le Mans immediately conjured images of the company's fierce rivalry in the 1960s with Ferrari and intense competition with Porsche. "When the GT40 competed at Le Mans in the 1960s, Henry Ford II sought to prove Ford could beat endurance racing's most legendary manufacturers," Ford executive chairman Bill Ford said in a statement. "We are still extremely proud of having won this iconic race four times in a row, and that same spirit that drove the innovation behind the first Ford GT still drives us today." Ford is going back to Le Mans. Somewhere, Hank the Deuce must be smiling. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 BMW 7 Series arrives in the fall BMW revealed the sixth generation of its flagship 7 Series this week, which will start at $81,300 when it launches in the United States this fall. BMW is billing it as the roomiest 7 Series ever, and it measures 206.6 inches in length.