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BMW wants to expand DriveNow carsharing program to 25 new cities

Daimler's Car2go car-sharing service just announced that it will debut in Rome, its 26th global city. Now, BMW says it wants to expand its own carsharing program to, wait for it, 25 more cities. Coincidence? We think not. BMW is looking to bring its DriveNow carsharing program, with its Mini Coopers and 1 Series, to as many as 15 new cities in Europe as well as 10 in the US, Bloomberg News says, citing comments BMW executive Peter Schwarzenbauer made at the Geneva Motor Show last week. The service is now operational in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Dusseldorf and San Francisco and serves about a quarter-million people. Of course, it's that last city, where DriveNow started operations in August 2012, that's been somewhat problematic. San Francisco has tough guidelines when it comes to where the cars can be parked, with so few public parking areas to choose from. DriveNow charges $39 for membership in San Francisco, then $12 for the first half hour of driving and 32 cents for each additional minute. DriveNow competes directly against Car2go, which charges around $25 to become a member and then 41 cents a minute to rent a Smart ForTwo.

Rolls-Royce sketching out SUV for possible 'late 2017' release

With each new story on the Rolls-Royce SUV, the Goodwood automaker comes off as more at ease with their reluctantly birthed yet necessary sport ute. Company design chief Giles Taylor told Autocar that his team is still "sketching to assess the viability of the concept," which to ours ears means they're trying to figure out if such a beast is even possible within the confines of the brand. If it is, Taylor says it will be "a shooting brake, not a crossover with a sloping roof. A proper SUV."
A different company source, unnamed, seems confident that Taylor's team will figure it out, telling the magazine it would start at 200,000 pounds ($335K US). However, that same source said the vehicle will be "a kind of Mercedes-GLK-plus-plus," which is a baffling description in several ways. More reasonable is the speculation that it will ride on Ghost, not Phantom, architecture and make its debut sometime around late 2017.
That Ghost platform is expected to take cues from the carbon, aluminum and steel bones that supported the BMW Vision Future Luxury concept shown at the Beijing Motor Show and destined for the 9 Series. Some of those tricks will also go into the next-generation Phantom, which Autocar says will come in 2017 and not 2020.

BMW reveals full details on M235i Racing

We were suitably excited when BMW first announced the imminent arrival of the M235i Racing. After all, what's not to like about a factory-prepared racecar with 333 horsepower you can pick up for just eighty grand? Now BMW has released the full details on the latest addition to its racing portfolio, where it joins the M3 DTM, M3 GT4, Z4 GTE/GT3 and 320 TC in a growing family of competition machinery prepared by BMW Motorsport.
Based on the new 2 Series coupe, the M235i Racing is the first M Performance model for the track, and boasts the line's most powerful engine: the 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight six has been optimized to 333 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. A mechanical limited-slip differential helps transfer the power to the track surface, along with race-tuned ABS, DSC and traction control.
Four-pot calipers up front and two-pot calipers in the rear shave off speed for the corner and are packed inside the 18-inch alloys, with KW dampers and H&R suspension components. Inside there's a six-point racing harness and Recaro bucket surrounded by an FIA-certified roll cage, and customers can even have an extra seat installed to take passengers for ride-alongs. All of which can be yours for €59,500.00 - equivalent to $82k at today's rates, before taxes.