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BMW says yes to 1 Series M successor, no to M6 Gran Coupe with xDrive

If you're anything like us, the first half of that headline made you smile. The BMW 1 Series M Coupe was, without a doubt, one of our favorite cars from the past few years, and according to a BMW Blog interview, Dr. Friedrich Nitschke, head of the company's M division, has confirmed that a successor is in the works.
"We haven't made a decision yet, but the 1M coupe was so successful, that in my opinion, I am absolutely sure we will build a successor," Nitschke told BMW Blog. Currently, BMW only offers the M135i version of the new 1 Series hatch in Europe, which Nitschke says is "not a pure M car."
Moving elsewhere in the M range, BMW Blog asked about the M6 Gran Coupe that recently debuted at this year's Detroit Auto Show. The obvious competitors for this car will be higher-power versions of the Porsche Panamera and Audi RS7, but while both of those offer all-wheel drive, the M6 only sends power to its rear wheels.

BMW expands Takata airbag recall nationwide, 140k 3 Series affected

Following the urging of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, BMW has expanded its recall of vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators to cover the entirety of the United States, rather than just high-humidity areas. That means there are about 140,000 owners of 2004 to 2006 model year BMW 3 Series coupes, convertibles, sedans and wagons (that means owners of both E46 and E90 3ers should take note). It's unclear if this recall includes the high-performance M3 Coupe and Convertible. With the expansion of its airbag recall, BMW joins Honda, Mazda, Ford and Fiat Chrysler in moving from a regional to a nationwide recall of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags. According to Reuters, BMW claims none of its vehicles have been subject to the potentially harmful airbag deployments.

World Car of the Year finalists announced

To say the 2014 Geneva Motor Show was packed full of news is an understatement as big as the show's home at the Palexpo convention center. Despite everything that we were able to cover during this year's show, there's still more coming out of Switzerland, including the announcement of the finalists for the 2014 World Car of the Year Awards.
We reported on the original list of finalists over three weeks ago, and now, that initial list has been pared down to three finalists for each of the five awards. The finalists were announced at a press conference by frequent Autoblog contributor and co-chair of the awards, Matt Davis (above).
The finalists for the overall title of 2014 World Car of the Year are the Audi A3, the BMW 4 Series and the Mazda3. The World Luxury Car of the Year will be either the Bentley Flying Spur, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, while the Performance Car of the Year will be awarded to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the Ferrari 458 Speciale or the Porsche 911 GT3 (which, um, yeah...).