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BMW has a rough 100th birthday as share prices slide

BMW is 100 years old now, but falling stock prices are giving the German automaker the birthday blues. Investors are worried about the company's future outlook against luxury rivals, and the shareholders aren't happy about the recent dividend payments, either. According to The Wall Street Journal, BMW's shares dropped almost 2 percent on March 9. Investors have concerns that rivals are closing in. While BMW is in first place, it's not a commanding lead. For example, the German was first in the US luxury market last year with 346,023 deliveries. However, a Polk study found that Lexus actually earned the high-end crown in the US after looking at vehicle registrations rather than sales. BMW performed well last year, including delivering a strong 2.25 million vehicles. Net profits also jumped 10 percent to $7.05 billion, and revenue grew 15 percent, according to the WSJ. However, the shareholders wanted larger dividends after the successful year. The automaker paid out based on a percentage of earnings, but the investors expected more. BMW CEO Harald Kruger has an opportunity to get stockholders back on his side next week when he announces the automaker's new strategy. Expect technology to play a major role in that discussion, including electric vehicles and digital services. We might even see the i5 debut there, according to the WSJ. To be the automotive tech leader of the future, BMW plans to make computer programmers half of its research and development staff. The goal is to develop the most intelligent car on the road. Related Video:

BMW i3 sales rise after Germany adds plug-in vehicle subsidies

BMW's advance sales of its i3 electric vehicle have risen since Germany began offering incentives for plug-in vehicle buyers. About 1,000 of the 5,000 global orders for the updated version of the i3 were taken from Germany, says Reuters, citing the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), which itself cited BMW sources. That sales rate for deliveries from mid-July onward marks a "many times over" increase from how the i3 had been selling. BMW representatives weren't available to comment, according to Reuters. That demand increase coincides with the German government's recent decision to collaborate with automakers by offering financial perks for plug-in vehicles. German consumers get a $4,400 break on electric vehicles and a $3,300 discount on plug-in hybrids. All told, the program will be worth about $1.4 billion, and about half of that funding will come from the German automakers themselves. That program will also fund the deployment of as many as 15,000 vehicle-recharging stations, which should further spur demand for plug-in hybrids and EVs. The ultimate goal is to speed up plug-in vehicle adoption to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2009 goal to have 1 million EVs on Germany's roads by 2020. Upon adoption of the government initiative, Germany had accounted for about 30,000 electric vehicles, implying that the country was far off the pace needed to meet Merkel's decade-end target. As for BMW, the company announced this spring that the 2017-model-year i3 will offer a 33-kWh battery. The larger pack will increase the i3's single-charge range to 114 miles from 81 miles, or a 41-percent boost. Reuters says BMW is also planning to further improve the i3's performance for 2018, while another electric vehicle is on tap for 2021. BMW also sells the super-sporty i8 plug-in hybrid under its "i" sub-brand. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 BMW i3 View 26 Photos News Source: Reuters Government/Legal Green BMW Electric PHEV

All 25 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars

There is no shortage of lists ranking the best James Bond movies. Ditto lists about the best or worst James Bond cars. I know, I've written some of them. As such, why not combine the two ideas into one new list that ranks all 25 official James Bond movies based exclusively on their cars, or more accurately their car content. I would then pull from my 25 years of James Bond nerddom plus the excellent "Bond Cars: The Definitive History" and our interview with long-time Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould to provide tidbits and factoids about the cars and their roles in the movies. And yes(!), this list now includes "No Time to Die," which impresses by adding plenty of car content to the series. It's now available on Blu-ray and download. To determine the list, I considered the inherent coolness of the cars as well as their importance to Bond, film and car history. I considered their importance to the story as well as the quality/excitement of the chases and scenes they participated in. Finally, I tried my best to divorce the car content from my opinions about the movies in general. That my personal list of best James movies looks nothing like this shows I was at least partially successful.     25. 'Moonraker' There are virtually no cars in "Moonraker." None. Oh, there's a gondola on wheels that makes a pigeon do a double-take, but that's not the same thing as a car. Neither is a golf cart. Or an ambulance. Or a space shuttle.   24. 'From Russia With Love' The literary James Bond mostly drove an ancient Bentley, and "From Russia with Love" is the only film in which it appears. It stays parked and the coolest thing that happens (by 1962 standards) is 007 answers its car phone. Thereafter, we get some old cars (even by 1962 standards) driving around Istanbul and a yellow truck. So yeah. Classic Bond film, a must-watch, just not for its car content.   23. 'Dr. No' History records that the first "Bond car" is the Sunbeam Alpine in "Dr. No." The car itself was literally borrowed from a Miss Jennifer Jackson of 53 Lady Musgrave Road in Jamaica for 10 pounds per day for two days during filming. Also, the stunt where it drove under an excavator blocking the road was entirely conceived because the filmmakers showed up to the road they intended to film on and discovered an excavator blocking the thing. Sadly, those are really the only two things interesting about the Alpine, which is a pretty small and dainty thing by Bond car standards.