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China’s Great Wall looking to partner with BMW to sell cars in the West

The Chinese automaker Great Wall seems to have moved on from courting Fiat Chrysler. According to Reuters, the company announced in a stock exchange filing that it's looking to collaborate with BMW's Mini brand in some way. Reuters also reports that BMW is open to discussion. We reached out to a BMW representative, and he provided us with an official statement regarding the news. The company didn't specifically say it is talking with Great Wall. What it did say is that it has had success with its current partnership with another Chinese automaker Brilliance, but also that the company is interested in expanding the Mini brand worldwide and in China. The statement says that Mini's future strategy and expansion will include "diversification of partnerships and new cooperation models." It also said that expanding in China "is only possible with a local partner." That sounds to us like BMW is pretty interested in working with Great Wall. This move comes about a month and a half after Great Wall attempted to purchase parts of Fiat Chrysler. The company was reported to be talking to FCA to purchase the Jeep brand, and it later confirmed that it was interested in that brand, a few, or the whole company. But things seemed to fall apart when Fiat Chrysler's CEO Sergio Marchionne announced it hadn't received any offers and wasn't working on any kind of deal with another company. Now it may seem a little odd that Great Wall would shift from trying to buy an SUV brand, or a company that is beginning to concentrate on crossovers and trucks, to one that specializes in compact cars. After all, they're fairly different segments. Our theory is that Great Wall isn't necessarily interested in the specific products, but more that it's looking for a gateway to Western car markets. It's not something new for the company. As far back as 2013, the company made it clear it was looking to start selling cars in America. It also started looking into a manufacturing facility in Mexico earlier this year, which would supposedly supply vehicles to both Mexico and the U.S. Now when Great Wall announced its American sales intentions, it was targeting a date of 2015. That obviously didn't happen, and it probably has something to do with the company's products. Most of the cars under the Great Wall and Haval brands bear an uncanny appearance to discontinued models from other companies that compete in the West.

More details emerge on hotter BMW i8S coming next year

The BMW i8 recently won the Autoblog Technology of the Year award, and it's going to get even better. In October, Automobile magazine reported that BMW's i brand is working on an i8S that would be stiffer and more powerful, and celebrate the marque's centenary in 2016. At the time, one of two power unit combinations was suggested, either one of them good for more than 500 horsepower. Car magazine has added more info on the coupe said to be called Project M100, saying that in addition to being a birthday gift for BMW, it will also be a going-away statement to current chairman Norbert Reithofer, who is expected to retire in 2016 or 2017. It will also be so thoroughly reworked that there will be plenty of daylight between it and the standard i8: a more integrated carbon fiber and aluminum chassis, a wider range of materials used in the build, a larger luggage bay due to the omission of rear seats, a more aggressive suspension supporting heartier brakes and wider tires, and - perhaps - a different aero and ground-effects package to be visually different and make the most of the alterations. As for that power unit, Car says that the two options mentioned by Automobile are still under consideration, being either a 2.0-liter twin-turbo four-cylinder with 320 horsepower and a 204-hp electric motor, or a 3.0-liter straight six with 480 hp and an electric motor with 109 hp. Either choice gets an integrated starter motor good for another 27 hp, and a total torque number of roughly 520 pound-feet, 100 additional lb-ft than the current car. Word is that it will be shown for the centenary in 2016 then go on sale by the end of 2017.

BMW M850i Coupe, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser | Autoblog Podcast #585

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and Senior Editor, Green, John Snyder. This week, they talk about driving the BMW 8 Series Coupe, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Toyota Corolla Hatchback. Then they talk about the news, including electric Hummer rumors and Tesla pickup timing. Finally, they consider whether or not Greg should buy his neighbor's 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser. Autoblog Podcast #585 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: BMW M850i xDrive Coupe Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Toyota Corolla Hatchback In the news: Is an all-electric Hummer in the works? Tesla pickup truck is on its way Spend My Money: 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: