2013 Bmw 650i Xdrive Convertible $97k + Msrp Navigation Cold Weather Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mystery shoppers love Infiniti, hate Tesla

Infiniti, followed by Lexus tied with Mercedes-Benz took the top two spots for best sales experience according to mystery shoppers from the latest Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, while EV manufacturer Tesla recorded the lowest overall score. Not surprisingly, premium brands dominated the top ranks. Including the three already mentioned, luxury brands occupied seven of the top ten spots and included Audi, BMW, Porsche, and the only American brand to crack the upper echelon, Cadillac. Toyota, Volkswagen, and Nissan rounded out the first ten positions. The news for domestic automakers isn't good. Aside from Caddy, the only other star-spangled automaker to score above the industry average is Chrysler. The rest of FCA, most of GM, and all of Ford fell below the line. But Pied Piper's mystery shoppers handed Tesla the biggest walloping – the company is ten full points below the next lowest brand, Volvo, and its score of 86 is 17 below the average of 103. It's baffling, considering the company's touted direct-sales model. "Tesla leaves me scratching my head," Fred O'Hagan, Pied Piper's president and CEO, told Wards Auto. "They own all of their stores, so you would think each one would be doing the same thing. But they're not. Tesla is consistent in its inconsistencies." O'Hagan added that there's a "huge variation" in Tesla's store-to-store effectiveness, and that in some cases, shoppers found showroom workers that acted more like "museum curators," Wards Auto reports. It might be popular to call Tesla the Apple of the car world, but based on Pied Piper's work, the brand has a long way to go to emulate the uniform shopping experience of an Apple Store. The news might be bad for Tesla, but even for the brands that scored below average, there's cause for celebration. Only Tesla and Mini lost points in this year's rankings, and only Mercedes and Lincoln held steady. Every other brand, including Infiniti, which topped the index for the first time, gained at least one point. The biggest improvements belong to Porsche, Land Rover, and Mitsubishi, which all jumped five points. Pied Piper's annual Prospect Satisfaction Index uses mystery shoppers – over 6,100 this year – from across the country to assess dealers and generate rankings from over 50 individual factors. News Source: Pied Piper via WardsAuto Green Audi BMW Cadillac Chrysler Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Nissan Tesla Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers study

Will BMW-Designed Bobsled Give Team USA An Edge At The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics? [UPDATE]

When we first reported on BMW's plans to develop a new bobsled for Team USA, the 2014 Winter Olympics were over two years away. Now the games are upon us and BMW's high-tech, carbon fiber sled is ready for competition in Sochi. When we first reported on BMW's plans to develop a new bobsled for Team USA, the 2014 Winter Olympics were over two years away. Now the games are upon us and BMW's high-tech, carbon fiber sled is ready for competition in Sochi. According to the automaker, BMW designers redeveloped the two-man bobsled from the ground up to replace a 20-year-old platform that has failed to produce Olympic gold. "BMW's process reevaluated the complete vehicle system: cowling aerodynamics and construction, chassis and steering geometries, athlete fitment and integration were all critical focal points," the automaker said in a statement. "Computer aided modeling, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), full size wind tunnel testing, on track testing, and athlete scannings were all tools in BMW's development approach." The United States has not won a gold medal in two-man bobsled since 1936. Only time will tell if BMW's contributions will give Team USA an edge at this year's Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. You can watch BMW's Team USA bobsled in action in the video above. UPDATE: Team USA bobsledders Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton won the bronze medal in two-man bobsled, snapping a 62-year medal drought in the event. MORE: American Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton take bronze, winning first two-man medal by a US sled since 1952. http://t.co/3lgynFj7z0 - AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 17, 2014 BMW Translogic Videos bobsled

BMW confirms M4 DTM for next season

Fans of BMW performance had two events to keep an eye on this weekend: the reveal of the M4 Concept at Pebble Beach, and the efforts of the Bavarian automaker's DTM teams at the Nurburgring. What ties them together, however, is what BMW has in store for next year.
The German carmaker has confirmed that it's already working on a new M4 DTM to campaign in the highly-competitive touring car series starting next season. It didn't reveal any details, but we can expect the M4 to make the same jump to competition spec as the M3 did before it. And with some success, we might add: successive versions of the M3 have won 48 DTM races over the years, starting with the checkered flag which Harald Grohs claimed at Hockenheim in 1987 through to the same race which Augusto Farfus won earlier this year. After taking home the title for BMW in its first year back in DTM last season, Bruno Spengler also won at the Red Bull Ring in Austria two months ago, but the Bimmer teams seem to be having a bit of trouble defending its title against fresh assaults from Audi and Mercedes.
BMW undoubtedly hopes the new M4 DTM will help it turn another new leaf, and we're looking forward to seeing how it all shapes up. Read more in the press release below.