| Thief steals car with baby in back seat
A THIEF stole a car with a two-year-old child in the back when his mum stopped to post a letter at a Nuneaton house. The mum watched in horror as a man got into her BMW in Mulberry Way, Hartshill, and sped off, taking her young son with him. She raised the alarm and a huge police hunt was launched at lunchtime yesterday. The force helicopter was scrambled to the area and officers in patrol cars scoured the streets. Twenty minutes later the tiny youngster was found safe and well in the car, which had been abandoned in Laurel Drive, Hartshill. .
BMW BIKES `SALVAGED' IN DEVON
According to a statement released by BMW, some 39 motorcycles were on board the container ship MV Napoli, which was beached near Devon, after getting into difficulties in the English Channel.
The cargo ship was bound for South Africa, with BMW bikes and cars - plus spares on board. It is believed that most of the BMW bikes have been taken away by people scavenging Branscombe beach, Devon, in the last few days.
BBC reports indicate that the UK Police, in conjunction with the cargo insurers, will be making efforts to track down those who took the bikes, and seeking to prosecute anyone who failed to report their `salvage' haul to the Receiver of Wrecks, within 28 days.
Some items from the wreck have already appeared on e-bay and within a few weeks optimists will be trying to sell the BMW bikes somehow.
ABOUT THE X5
The latest incarnation of BMW's X5 sport utility vehicle is bigger, faster and pricier than the versions that have been in production in Spartanburg County since 1999. • The base price for the six-cylinder X5 3.0si is $46,595 — a $3,400 increase from the cost of the previous version. • The eight-cylinder X5 4.8i costs $55,195 — up $900 from its 4.4-liter predecessor. • The 2007 model year cars is 7.5 inches longer, about 2 inches wider and 2 inches taller. Also, they are slightly heavier than the previous versions, but they both carry newer BMW engines that are more powerful and fuel efficient than previous versions, according to BMW. • The bigger size allows for the option of a third seat in the back — something in particular demand among U.S.
BMW's 2006 Revenue Rises 5%, Boosted by New 3-Series (Update2)
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, said sales rose 5 percent to a record last year after the company introduced new versions of the 3-Series and X3 sports-utility vehicle models. Revenue increased to 49 billion euros ($63.4 billion) from 46.7 billion euros a year earlier, the Munich-based company said in a statement today. BMW, which will release earnings results in March, reiterated that pretax profit will climb to a record 4 billion euros, helped by a gain from the sale of a stake in airplane-engine maker Rolls-Royce Group Plc. ``This should be a very good year for BMW,'' said Michael Tyndall, an analyst at Nomura Securities in London who has a ``neutral'' rating on the stock. ``It will have a full year of the new 3-Series, including the coupe and convertible, and the new X5 and Mini, all of which points to a better year than 2006.'' Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer, who took over from Helmut Panke in September, launched a new X5 SUV and Mini in the second half to maintain sales growth.
End of the Road for Hydrogen
With climate change on everyones mind and rumours of an energy crisis, what could be better than a car which doesnt run on fossil fuels and has no emissions except water? BMWs new Hydrogen 7 fits the bill. This is the V-12 BMW 7 modified to run on hydrogen. It has a petrol tank as well; it also runs on petrol, which is handy if you are far from the UKs only hydrogen filling station one of only six in the world. Of course, if hydrogen catches on there will be filling stations all over the country, wont there? Hydrogen cars sound ideal, but there are practical problems. First, the hydrogen tank takes eight minutes to fill and it takes up most of the boot space. Even then, the hydrogen tank provides a range of only 125 miles. To get enough hydrogen into the fuel tank it has to be chilled and liquefied.
Aussie muscle
Youve got to appreciate how refreshing a car like this is. When it comes to performance oriented cars, I find myself so caught up in whats going on with the usual suspects like BMW, Mercedes and Audi, that I forget whats going on elsewhere in the world. Its kind of like a wildcard that rears it head and asks to be evaluated against the current benchmarks. Thats how I see it anyway. See the gallery During the presentation before my test drive, someone asked the GM representatives who they feel the competition is for the new Lumina is. They just sort of mumbled the word BMW through closed lips and changed the subject. I guess its a given. Especially locally. When a big power rear-wheel drive car is released, it will naturally be compared to the Germans. So how does it compare? Well first of all, it comes in a lot cheaper.
BMW reports record sales
FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) -- BMW's revenue rose by 5 percent to a record 49 billion euros ($63.6 billion) in 2006, it said on Friday, reaffirming that its 2006 pretax earnings would hit 4 billion euros. BMW had already announced that 2006 unit sales rose 3.5 percent to just over 1.37 million BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars, securing its position as the world's largest premium carmaker ahead of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes Car Group. During the Detroit car show this month, sales and marketing chief Michael Ganal nudged the group's 2007 sales target of 1.4 million units up a bit, telling reporters he was confident it could exceed that goal. On Friday, BMW reiterated that it would sell more than 1.4 million units this year. "The BMW Group is heading towards a new sales volume record in 2007," Norbert Reithofer, chairman of BMW's management board, said in a statement on Friday.
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