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BMW invests in carbon fiber for use beyond i and M models

The immense amount of resources BMW has poured into its i brand program hasn't stopped, and recent developments indicate it's likely to pay off for BMW and BMW buyers outside the i brand. The i8 has already sold out its first year run, the i3 racked up 10,000 orders before it even went on sale and is already the subject of public discussion about being stretched into an i5, and a new investment in carbon fiber production has the automaker talking about CFRP use in non-i and non-M models.
BMW and SGL Group got together to form SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF), and the joint venture produces all of the CFRP for the i3 and i8 on two production lines at its plant in Moses Lake, Washington. After already investing $100 million to increase capacity, BMW has announced that another $200 million will add four more production lines, tripling production from 3,000 tons per year to 9,000 tons. When the expansion is complete in 2015, BMW says the Moses Lake facility will be the world's largest carbon fiber plant.
That's a lot of weave and the long view is that it will find its way into core models, with BMW exec Dr. Klaus Draeger saying, "As part of an intelligent mix of materials, we will apply carbon also beyond our BMW i and BMW M models in the future," and be able to do so "at competitive costs and in large quantities."

BMW i8 wins 2015 Car Of The Year award in UK

Those Brits sure do like those Bimmers, don't they? The BMW i8 plug-in hybrid was recently awarded UK Car of the Year from a group of more than two-dozen British automotive journalists, UK's Telegraph reported. Last year's winner of the first-ever such award? The BMW i3 electric vehicle. The i8 was feted for its combination of performance, styling and fuel efficiency. The car pairs a three-cylinder gas engine with a 96-horsepower electric motor and can go from 0-60 miles per hour in just over four seconds while having a fuel-economy rating of 76 MPGe. Last November, the i8 was given Autoblog's 2014 Technology of the Year award and the 2015 Luxury Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal, so the British journalists are not alone in their sleek PHEV love. "This is a truly great honor for BMW's visionary car and proof that sustainable mobility can be beautiful and fun," BMW spokesman Kenn Sparks told AutoblogGreen. Other winners for individual categories from the UK this year included the Rolls-Royce Ghost (which won for Best Luxury Car), Ford Mondeo (Best Family Car) and Renault Twingo (Best City Car). Check out our First Drive impressions of the i8 here. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2015 BMW i8: First Drive View 62 Photos News Source: Telegraph via Hybrid Cars Green BMW Hybrid car of the year

Zombie cars: A dozen discontinued vehicles people still buy new

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.