While BMW is known for its positive sales numbers in the competition with Audi and Mercedes-Benz, main rivals on the German auto market and not only, it turns out that not all of its models contribute to a first position.

One example is BMW Z4, a unit that did not take the segment of premium roadster as far as it should have. Sales are disappointing and throughout the entire 2012, BMW delivered only 15.249 units to its customers in the entire world!

Elegance, inspiration and perfection were the words used to describe the design of BMW Z4, even though the design alone was not enough to make people excited about it.

Speaking of it, these days we had the chance to read a highly covered interview with Norbert Reithofer, CEO of BMW. Renowned for being the most successful boss in the history of BMW, Reithofer talked about the lack of success of Z4, suggesting that its successor should be a sport model.

Does this mean that Bavarian Motors is planning something to revitalize Z4? Or perhaps they are more into a sudden shift of strategy, reorienting themselves towards a Z2?

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post To make or not to make a successor for BMW Z4? appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

The recent news of a partnership between Toyota and BMW have made corporate headlines all over the world, somehow us petrolheads just nodded in approval and went on with our lives.

We may have been a little hasty in our decision to dismiss the importance of this alliance. It goes well beyond the hybrid and fuel cell technology we’ve recently heard about.

There’s a “nasty” rumor going round about how Toyota and BMW’s future partnership also includes the words “sports car” which is where we take notice.

Toyota have produced some pretty good sports cars in the past and currently they’re doing the GT86 in alliance with Subaru.

BMW’s etiquette on sports cars and enjoyable vehicles to drive is far more impressive than that but it’ll probably be very interesting to see how the new collaboration pans out.

Maybe BMW can make a great sports car and maybe Toyota can cut back on the costs while still keeping it as fun a product as possible.

Akio Toyoda, CEO of the Japanese company, had a major role to play in the emotional appeal of the GT86 so maybe we’re not going to end up with a boring BMW Z2 or something along those lines.

The Japanese leader actually went on record to say he’s a big fan of BMWs and that he had a bit of a nightmare at the Nurburgring race because of them.

It’s not that big a surprise to see him actually admit to such an idea, in front of the media and, more importantly, in front of Norbert Reithofer, CEO of BMW.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW – Toyota partnership to extend up to sports cars appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

It’s only been about three weeks since we’ve had confirmation of the first BMW series-production of an electric-vehicle coming to the market with the launch of the Megacity Vehicle, scheduled for 2013.

Back then, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer stated that this BMW will move the bar and set a new industry tone as the Megacity Vehicle will be significantly lighter than conventional cars and, in terms of sustainability, will set a new standard across the entire value-added chain.

Since these claims still stand, here are some new ones. The BMW Megacity will be a full five seater vehicle sized about the same as a Golf with an unusual layout for a BMW, an electric car or pretty much most cars in general. The Megacity will be rear engined and rear wheel drive.

According to BMW the Megacity will be a revolution for electric vehicles and it will also have some of the company’s mainstream touches. The new electric car is set to have a range of 160 miles per charge but no mention on the charging time has been done.

The BMW Megacity will share most of the drivetrain with the BMW ActiveE concept.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post More news on the BMW Megacity appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

According to sources quoted by with egmCarTech, BMW have recently held a clinic group study on the east coast and west coast to show owners a new entry-level hatchback.

The model, which will fit below the 1-Series (which is odd since I was thinking the 1 Series was going to be the smallest car they made unless they wanted to produce a 0), will feature traditional BMW styling in hatchback form and will be built on the company’s upcoming front-wheel-drive platform.

BMW purists shake at the hearing of these words, front wheel drive, what has this company come to? To be honest though, it might not be that bad as the revived Mini which is a BMW project is a great handling car.

Speaking of the Mini, the new generation of models will be sharing the basis of this small hatch FWD BMW entry-level and that basis will be the front-wheel-drive architecture the company is working on, according to BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer.

And as the next generation of Mini this new BMW is set to have a debut within the year 2014. Development boss Klaus Draeger has confirmed this and also mentioned that the size group for the new BMW will be in the same playing field with the Volkswagen Golf and the Scirocco.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post More news on BMW front wheel drive model appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Germany is home to the Autobahn, some of the best feats of car engineering on the planet and one of the “greenest” countries in the world.

In keeping of that last aspect, the German government has announced that they are hoping to get one million electric vehicles on the country’s roads by 2020.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be meeting top executives of the country’s main automakers and energy companies in Berlin to launch a new initiative to develop electric vehicles. This plan will bear the insignia of the “national platform for electric mobility” and is destined to reach the fabled million in under a decade.

This platform and the eco-minded thinking behind it fits BMW’s efficient dynamics politics and first to show his support for the idea on behalf of the automakers is BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer who stated that the bavarians are ready and well positioned to become a technology leader in the market .

BMW’s hybrid developments so far aren’t probably going to get all these great numbers in sales up so quickly which is why the company has announced it will be relying mostly on cars that will be developed from the BMW ActiveE Concept.

The BMW ActiveE is based on the current BMW 1-Series that has a rear mounted electric motor and a battery setup similar to what you would get in a Tesla Roadster. As always with BMW the performance isn’t one to disappoint even though the main purpose of the car is ecology and the zero emissions factor as the car is completely electric.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW supports Germany’s target for electric vehicles appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.