NEWS

BANGERS4BEN usually encourages some mad entries from people doing something special for charity. But we couldn’t have made up one team’s entry in Bangers4BEN 2011 – a newlywed couple! HPI’s operations director Andy Entwistle and his wife Toni Emmins-Entwistle are ditching the normal protocol of going somewhere sunny and hot for their honeymoon. Instead the [...]

THE September plate change marked a significant milestone for BMW – they’ve sold two million cars in the UK. The first car sold by BMW UK Ltd on January 1, 1980 was an E12 5 Series Saloon. Move forward 1,999,999 cars later and the proud owner of a BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo has taken [...]

BMW UK’s head of small cars talks to JAMES BAGGOTT about the firm’s new M car that’s already nearly sold out What sort of buyer will you be targeting with the 1M? The car was conceived to be the youngest and most affordable M car. The target buyer will either be in a high-end 1 [...]

I never knew it, but apparently I’m sick. ‘Sick’, that is, as in ‘down with the kids’, ‘happening’ or ‘groovy’, not chronically poorly. Well, perhaps not groovy, as the word itself derives from a different era, but whichever way you look at it, Big Mike is alot cooler than he ever could have imagined. Why’s [...]

BMW Group UK has reported sales are up 15.8 per cent in the first six months of 2011 compared to 2010. 85,226 vehicles were sold by the group, increasing the group’s overall share of the total UK market grew to 8.3 per cent. ‘Despite difficult market conditions, our sales performance in the first half of [...]

BMW dealerships are forging ahead with the latest in energy efficient showrooms, it has been announced. As part of its wide reaching sustainability programme BMW has tasked its dealer network to improve the environmental standards of its showrooms. A team of specialists assessed the level of development each dealer required to make the grade by [...]

BMW has officially revealed the price it’s asking for its next M5 saloon which hits UK showrooms in November. The fifth car ever to receive the fabled moniker comes with a price tag of £73,040. For that owners will be getting M-division’s ‘most potent engine ever’ and a chassis that is ‘race bred’ and includes [...]

BMW Financial Services has announced its latest addition to its finance products – the 50:50 package. The new package combines ‘affordability and flexibility in one easy to manage contract,’ says the firm. Financially savvy BMW customers are increasingly opting for car finance packages to not only get their hands on the keys to the car [...]

BMW has not ruled out a CSL version of its new 1 Series M Coupe, one of the maker’s product managers has said. The German firm has just launched the 1M but with two thirds of the 450 UK allocation already sold, it’s likely buyers will want more and a CSL version could be the [...]

TO mark BMW’s sponsorship of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the firm’s dealers took part in a special event last weekend. Part of the ‘BMW Drive to London 2012′ campaign, the German firm invited customers to visit their local dealer to celebrate the sponsorship with competitions and special deal on offer. As well as having [...]

BMW will start selling parts and accessories direct to owners for the first time, thanks to a new partnership with eBay. ‘BMW Direct’, now live on eBay.co.uk, will satisfy the growing demand from consumers for purchasing original parts online. Previously, BMW owners wanting to pick up Genuine Parts have had to place their order via [...]

BERRY BMW Heathrow have launched ‘Service while you fly’ – an innovative car servicing and programme. The dealership has joined forces with Progress Automotive Solutions to produce the programme which has been designed to maximise customer service and attract new customers to the showroom. ‘Service while you fly’ enables BMW customers to use a 24-hour [...]

BMW Group has announced it sold more vehicles in March than ever before in a month in its history. The company sold a total of 165,842 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars in the past month, not only significantly exceeding the figure for March of last year (141,717 units / up 17 per cent) but also [...]

BMW M cars are not dead – they’re just changing. That was the positive message from the firm’s UK MD Tim Abbott. Performance fans will be pleased to hear that rising petrol prices and austere times have not sounded the death knell for BMW’s M cars – but they do mean what’s slotted under the [...]

BMW is still unsure whether the disaster in Japan will affect production of its models. The firm’s UK managing director Tim Abbott told Car Dealer it was simply too early to tell what affect, if any, the disaster will have on production. However, it is clear the manufacturer is worried – as are many others [...]

BMW Group UK has reported January sales of 10,340 vehicles, an increase of 40.6 per cent compared to January 2010. January sales of BMW brand vehicles increased by with a total of 8,726 vehicles BMWs were sold in the month, representing a 67.2 per cent increase and a 6.7 per cent share of the UK market. [...]

THE Ford Focus regained the number one spot in January’s sales tables, SMMT figures reveal. Sales of Ford’s mid-sized hatchback topped more than 7,500 sold – up four places on December’s figures. The Fiesta followed in second while December’s winner, the Vauxhall Astra, dropped to third. The Griffin-badged hatchback’s younger brother, the Corsa, fell to [...]

A SPECIAL sale of BMWs at BCA in December saw more than £9m turned-over and a new record set for the year. A special BMW Closed ‘virtual auction’ in December saw 325 cars offered live via a giant screen by BCA’s auctioneers to over 100 BMW dealers. The sale achieved a turnover that exceeded £9.2m [...]

FURTHER proof that BMW is committed in developing the Mini brand comes with the news of a coupe SUV concept. Called the Paceman, the concept showcases the firm’s interest in entering the fashionable coupe SUV market – arguably the domain of Range Rover’s Evoque. The concept will debut at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) [...]

AFTER much anticipation from M car fans BMW has announced an M version of the 1 Series Coupe. When the new BMW 1 Series M Coupe arrives in showrooms next year, the car will be the smallest and most affordable M car in BMW’s range. But that does not mean the newcomer won’t impress. Under [...]