Filed under: BMW, Earnings/Financials

click above image for gallery of the BMW CS Concept, which is destined for production

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer revealed the automaker’s plans for the future, all the way up to 2020. There’s lots of stuff in works, but we’ll try to hit each point here. First off, the company’s got a short-term five-year plan of achieving annual sales of 1.8 million vehicles by 2012. After that, it will have another eight years to reach annual sales of 2 million by 2020. Those are big jumps from today, but BMW plans to reach them by increasing production at its Spartanburg plant in the U.S., as well as the MINI plant in Oxford. Of course, the growing Chinese market will also demand more BMWs, and the automaker will be happy to oblige.

Increasing production of what’s currently offered in BMW dealerships won’t get the automaker all that far, so a slew of new vehicles were also announced by Reithofer. These include expanding BMW’s range of SUVs with a small X1 model, as well as producing a four-door Gran Turismo car based off of the CS Concept that debuted in Shanghai this year. The BMW brand will also debut what it calls a Progressive Activity Sedan, or PAS, about which it divulged little, so we’ll have to wait for more details on exactly what makes it different from a standard sedan.

Find out the rest of BMW’s new models after the jump, as well as the very long speech from BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer in its entirety.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading BMW plans for future: 2 million by 2020, new models and fourth brand?

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Crossovers/CUVs, BMW, MINI

The MINI Monte (as in “Carlo”) might not be arriving on our shores in 2009. Instead, it could actually be built on our shores. Most MINIs are made at BMW’s plant in Oxford, but that factory is already at capacity. It has been rumored before that Magna might be contracted to build the MINI SUV at its plant in Austria, but the latest top secret word has BMW looking at the Spartanburg, SC plant where the X5 is built.

Of course, if the MINI’s fabrication costs were dollar denominated, and if the dollar/euro exchange rate continues to go where predicted, a U.S. build would make sense for BMW’s coffers and could make purchasing one a little easier for U.S. buyers.

[Source: Auto Express]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Crossovers/CUVs, BMW, MINI

Motoring File is reporting that the upcoming MINI CUV dubbed Crossman will share elements with the BMW X1 SUV that itself is based on the 1-Series. You heard that right: the MINI Crossman will have parts from the 1-Series, although we don’t know which ones will be crossing over just yet. The cross-use of components will save time to market and production costs for both brands. Hopefully the strategy will also keep both new utility vehicles around the same price as their competitors, unlike the BMW 1-series.

Recent spy shots show the Crossman to have the appearance of a raised Clubman, but while the test vehicle only contains two doors, the production version is actually expected to sport four. It will also be larger in every dimension over a standard Clubman, so the pics we keep seeing of a raised Clubman like the one above don’t really tell the whole story. Also, don’t worry, as the component sharing does entail the inclusion of an AWD system adapted especially for the MINI’s configuration.

[Source: Motoring File]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments