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BMW considering building 3 Series in North America

There might be even more BMWs coming from North America soon. The company recently announced plans to build a flagship crossover called the X7 at its Spartanburg, SC, factory. Now, rumors are emerging that the Bavarians might be thinking about building a second North American factory that could build its quick-selling 3 Series.
According to Bloomberg, the German luxury giant is considering several possible locations for a North American factory, including two in Mexico, that may build the 3. "We will decide this in the next months. On the North American continent, there's still potential," said BMW production boss, Harald Krueger, in an interview meant for company staff obtained by Bloomberg.
If BMW decides to open a plant in Mexico, it would be following its rival Audi, which already announced construction of a factory there. Mercedes-Benz has been rumored to be working on a deal with Nissan to build its cars South of the Border as well. Rumors of Bimmer considering Mexican production have also cropped up in the past, so it wouldn't come as a total surprise to hear it made official.

2016 Audi TTS Quick Spin

So, this is awkward. Last week, you (hopefully) read my Quick Spin on the Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG, a vehicle that I argued was dynamically very good, but wasn't so much better than the standard C300 to make it a worthwhile buy. Now I'm going to voice a similar opinion. The Audi TT has always been a vehicle you bought for the style, rather than the performance. If you wanted an athletic two-seat German, you just bought a Porsche Boxster. But the TT, that's a car you bought for the way it looks. And the way it looks remains the strongest argument against the car you see here, the TTS. In short, it's quick, agile, and more aggressive looking, but none of those qualities are so dramatically better than the plain-jane TT. Another Autoblogger came to this conclusion while tracking the new TTS – now I'll explain where this car misses the bull's eye on the road. Driving Notes Audi will probably never match the design impact of the original 1998 TT, but the third-gen feels like a more mature, cohesive evolution of the handsome second-generation car. The front and rear fascias are sharper, more muscular, the headlights/taillights chiseled and emotive, and the front grille significantly more powerful. Even in the subdued Daytona Gray shown here, this is a car that can get people staring almost as easily as that original model. The interior of the third-generation TT is as much a design triumph as the first TT's exterior. It's a master class in clean, simple, elegant design, but it's also extremely disorienting. Buttons for the HVAC system are hidden on the vents themselves and not having a central display of any kind is jarring. Once you get used to the layout and embrace the absolutely exceptional Virtual Cockpit – seriously, I'm convinced this is the finest piece of in-car technology on the market – the cockpit layout just starts making sense. This is a compact cabin, but it's a wonderful place to spend time. In addition to Virtual Cockpit, the S Sport seats (optional on the standard TT) are supportive and perfectly snug. Even for the big boned, the flat-bottomed steering wheel is a delight. The material quality is high across the board. Perhaps the biggest complaint is the charitably named backseats. Audi should just go with an R8-style shelf back here – those tiny buckets aren't fooling anyone. It'd make for a more versatile interior. Audi's current TT engine line is restricted to 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinders.

Google poised to release Apple CarPlay rival this month

Apple and Google. They're the Michigan and Ohio State of the tech world. They're New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Real Madrid and Barcelona, or whatever sports-based rivalry you want to cook up. Bottom line, if one company expands into a segment, it's only a matter of time before the other follows suit. And now, that rivalry is about to carry over to your car's dashboard.
Unnamed sources are reporting to Automotive News that Google will unveil its very own challenger to Apple's new CarPlay in-car operating system later this month at the Mountain View, CA company's annual developer conference. The system, allegedly called Google Auto Link, will be the first product to come from the Open Automotive Alliance, a partnership between Google, General Motors, Hyundai, Audi, Honda and hardware manufacturer NVIDIA.
The official announcement is expected to be made on either June 25 or 26, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Expect to hear a lot more about Google Auto Link then.