2007 Bmw Z4 3.0 Roadster Black Sapphire Automatic Only 27,200 Miles on 2040-cars

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BMW to pay $1.6M, rehire workers in discrimination settlement

A BMW subsidiary is on the hook for $1.6 million and must rehire workers as part of a settlement for a race discrimination lawsuit with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A change in BMW Manufacturing's criminal background check policy at the Spartanburg, SC, factory disproportionately affected African American workers, according to the EEOC, and it cost many people their jobs. The automaker has since changed the policy. According to Automotive News, the suit stemmed from BMW switching logistics contractors at the plant in 2008. As a result, 645 existing workers had to submit revised criminal background checks to keep their jobs. About 100 people didn't meet the new guidelines, according to the EEOC, and they lost their jobs. Around 80 percent of those affected were African American. According to the government agency's complaint, the altered procedures only took into account the category of a crime, not factors like when it occurred or whether the infraction was a misdemeanor or felony. With the settlement accepted by US District Court, BMW must offer work to the affected employees in this case and as many as 90 African American applicants that the contractor didn't hire because of the rules. The automaker also must offer training in the proper manner for criminal background checks. While there's nothing inherently wrong with investigating workers, "when a criminal background screen results in the disproportionate exclusion of African-Americans from job opportunities, the employer must evaluate whether the policy is job related and consistent with a business necessity," P. David Lopez, the EEOC's General Counsel, said in the agency's release, which you can read below. BMW to Pay $1.6 Million and Offer Jobs to Settle Federal Race Discrimination Lawsuit Company's Criminal Background Policy Disproportionately Affected African-American Logistics Workers, EEOC Charged GREENVILLE, S.C. - The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina today entered a consent decree ordering BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC (BMW) to pay $1.6 million and provide job opportunities to alleged victims of race discrimination as part of the resolution of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

BMW discussing new plant with Mexican authorities

Drawn in by low wages and manufacturing costs, BMW could be the next automaker to set up a manufacturing facility in Mexico. Automotive News is reporting that the German automaker has had discussions with local Mexican governments regarding a possible assembly plant, but there is no word as to when a decision may come down. Last we heard, BMW was reportedly looking to build the 3 Series in Mexico.
A key determining factor for this new plant is a free-trade agreement between the US and Europe, which according to the article, would give BMW better "flexibility and cost structure" to open another plant in North America. In terms of luxury automakers, Audi is currently building a new plant in Mexico and Mercedes-Benz is considering opening one in conjunction with Nissan for the CLA-Class, and in the bigger picture, Honda and Mazda are also preparing to kick off vehicle production in Mexico.

2014 BMW M235i

We know a number of BMW owners who reside in the Munich brand's core demographic - upper-five- and six-figure professionals who like to keep their automotive brand credentials as highly respected among their peers as their alma maters or the letters after their names. Before heading to Las Vegas to drive the new M235i, we asked four of those owners, "What did you think of the E30 3 Series?" Although phrased differently, every one of them had the same answer: "What's that?"
You can counter that we just happened to query a tiny and ignorant sample size, and it's possible that you're right. Nevertheless, in every case,we were speaking to BMW's core demographic, the increasing legion of buyers who have fostered another year of record growth and are responsible for BMW retaining its global luxury title for nine straight years. Question that, and we'll refer you to BMW's marketing department, its several hundred PowerPoint slides and several thousand pages of research that prove the point.
That second-generation E30 3 Series built a name, a brand and an entire segment by defining BMW-ness as superlative driving dynamics meets luxury - shortened to the phrase, "The Ultimate Driving Machine." Thirty years later, just being a part of BMW-ness and luxury is enough for the majority of buyers. The superlative handling, that's optional, and 150 hairy guys meet every Tuesday to keep the old religion going, light torches, sing dirges to the siren long gone and bang on their keyboards about the apostasies of modern buyers.