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Recharge Wrap-up: BMW to test autonomous cars, Korea bans sales of BMW, Nissan, Porsche models

BMW will test autonomous cars on public roads by the second half of 2017. The German automaker, with partners Mobileye and Intel, will operate a fleet of 40 self-driving vehicles using a "scalable architecture" that will be made available to other automakers. The partners plan to offer products ranging from key components to "a complete end-to-end solution" for autonomous driving. Since parting ways with Tesla, Mobileye also recently announced it would provide its technology to Lucid Motors. For BMW, it all leads up to its fully autonomous iNext model slated for introduction in 2021. See the video above, and read more in the press release from Intel. South Korea has banned the sale of certain models from BMW, Nissan, and Porsche over emissions cheating. Following an investigation, regulators determined emissions testing documents to be falsified. The country's Ministry of Environment has fined the three automakers a total of $5.9 million, and revoked the certification of 4,523 vehicles across banned 10 models. Six of the models were still on sale, while the other four have been discontinued. Read more from Automotive News Europe. China's prices for the Cadillac CT6 Plug-in are significantly higher than those announced for the US. The plug-in hybrid version of the luxury sedan recently went on sale with the two variants priced at RMB 558,800 and RMB 658,800. At the time of this writing, that's $80,420 and $94,812. Cadillac announced it would bring the CT6 Plug-In Í– which is built in China – to the US in the spring of 2017, starting at $76,090 before federal and local tax incentives. Hybrid Cars points out that China's own generous incentives could help to make it more competitive. The offering of a charger with free installation as well as an eight-year warranty on the electric powertrain should help, too. Read more at Hybrid Cars. A Connecticut court has ruled in favor of Tesla's gallery showroom in Greenwich. Last May, the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association brought the suit to block the showroom on Greenwich Avenue, which has now been dismissed by the Connecticut Superior Court. Tesla cannot offer test drives, sell cars, or operate a Supercharger at the location, but it can sell other branded items and educate the public about its vehicles. It's possible that the issue of Tesla's direct sales model could come up again this year in Connecticut state legislature. Read more at Teslarati .

VW could fight Uber Black with Porsche and Audi vehicles

Last week, the Volkswagen group dumped $300 million into Gett, a taxi hailing-cum-ride sharing app that's big outside of the US. Now, the company has revealed that it's pondering a rival to Uber Black by offering private drivers access to its higher-end vehicles. Details are scarce since it's a single line reference in a very long press release, but VW says that it's looking at a "special chauffeur service" that features "premium brands, such as Audi and Porsche." What that looks like in reality is anyone's guess, although the idea of getting ferried around in an Audi RS 7 does have some appeal. The deal with Gett will concentrate on getting Volkswagen cars into the hands of Gett's drivers with the promise of juicy discounts. For instance, the firm will offer a special package that'll bundle car insurance and servicing with the purchase price, which can be paid by a would-be operator in installments. It's a similar deal to the one that Uber offers would-be drivers, letting them buy cars from manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota at a discount. Uber, however, also lets prospective cabbies rent their vehicle on a monthly basis, thanks to a deal with Enterprise. Both of which will likely become more muscular now that Uber has a further $3.5 billion in its back pocket. The troubling fact for the auto industry is that people will still need cars, but it's likely that they won't need as many as they do right now. On-demand services and self-driving vehicles are, after all, intended to shuttle around cities like an ersatz taxi-cum-metro system rather than sitting in parking lots. The concepts of ownership that we currently hold dear (and the profits that car companies get from them) are likely to fade away in the next, say, fifty years time. As such, conglomerates like VW will have to reinvent themselves as both manufacturer and transport company in one. But these changes are never easy, especially when the biggest car firms have tons of baggage that slows down their progress. Many are still devoting time and resources to producing thousands of new cars with combustion engines that will be on the roads for years to come. Looming in the shadow, however, is the emissions scandal, with the financial and reputational penalties likely to be felt for years to come. Younger, more nimble rivals without legacy businesses, like Tesla, are working on mass-producing electric cars for mass-market prices.

Gooding's Pebble Beach auction tops $128 million in sales

While the million-dollar cars are now packed up for Monterey Car Week, the auction results keeping rolling in. Gooding & Co. set a two-day company record by moving over $128 million in beautiful classics during the event. Of the 115 lots that sold, three brought over $10 million, and 26 more went for over a million. In a surprise to no one, a Ferrari led the way when a 1961 250 GT SWB California Spider sold for $16.83 million. That was a new single-lot record for the auction house. In a close second place, a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale previously owned by famed auto designer Nuccio Bertone went for $16.5 million. Rounding out the top three, a 1982 Porsche 956 that won Le Mans in 1983 cleared $10.12 million. Porsche also grabbed fourth place with a 1960 RS60 going for $5.4 million, and rounding out the top five was a 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series II Coupe for $5.1 million. Check out the gallery above for a look at many of the beautiful vehicles in the sale. While the press release below lists the top sellers, you can check out the prices and info for all of the lots on Gooding's website, here. Gooding & Company's Two-Day Pebble Beach Auctions Realizes More Than $128 Million 3 cars sell above $10 million, 26 cars above $1 million New auction records broken for Ferrari and Porsche Pebble Beach, Calif. (August 17, 2015) – Gooding & Company, the official auction house of Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®, realized more than $128 million at its Pebble Beach Auctions this weekend, resulting in a two-day sales company record. During the two-day sale, the auction house sold 115 of 129 lots, an 89% sale rate and their highest ever average price of $1,113,896 per car. During the auction weekend, an impressive 26 cars sold over the $1 million mark including three vehicles over $10 million. World records were broken as new market standards were set for Ferrari and Porsche, including a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider (sold for $16,830,000), 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Speciale (sold for $16,500,000), Le Mans-winning 1982 Porsche 956 (sold for $10,120,000), 1960 Porsche RS60 (sold for $5,400,000), 1957 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series II Coupe (sold for $5,087,500), and a 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort (sold for $1,732,500). David Gooding, President of Gooding & Company: "New bench marks were set and our company hit a new record for highest two-day sale.