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Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.

2014 BMW 4 Series Convertible is easy, breezy, beautiful

BMW debuted its 2014 4 Series Convertible today at the LA Auto Show, and the sporting two-door will feature a folding hardtop - like the convertible 3 Series before it - and be offered in 428i and 435i guises.
The 428i Convertible is equipped with BMW's 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, which pumps out 240 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque - good for sprinting from 0-60 miles per hour in 6.2 seconds. The 435i Convertible gets the 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, which steps up output to 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. The topless 435i drops the 0-60-mph time to 5.5 seconds. Both cars come standard with an eight-speed automatic transmission, and BMW says that a manual transmission will not be offered on 4 Series Convertibles in the US market.
The 4 Series Convertible will be offered in Sport Line, Luxury Line and M Sport trims. Pricing starts at $48,750 for the 428i Convertible and $54,900 for the 435i. Head on below to peruse the (long) press release for details.

2015 BMW M3 is fast for the family man

BMW finally brought its four-door M3 into the public view, showing the new sedan off at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. The new M3 represents BMW's return to small, wildly fast four-door sedans after a several year absence following the discontinuation of the E90 M3 Sedan way back in 2011.
The M3 enjoys the same 425-horsepower, 3.0-liter six-cylinder used in the M4, with 406 pound-feet of torque and the owner's choice of either an old-fashioned six-speed manual or a seven-speed M dual-clutch transmission. All told, the new powertrain should scoot the four-door M to 60 in a mere 3.9 seconds (with the M DCT).
We've got a full gallery of live images of the all-new M3 up above, and we've included the original stock gallery down below. Feel free to peruse either, and then let us know what you think by sounding off down in Comments.