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BMW ponders increase in i3 production capacity on early demand

The 2014 BMW i3 is not slated to hit US showrooms until the second quarter of next year, but the response BMW has received for the all-electric hatchback has been positive enough that the automaker is already considering boosting production capacity. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that more than 8,000 customers have reserved an i3 so far, which is high, especially considering that BMW only planned to sell 10,000 i3s total in 2014.
Talking to BMW CFO Friedrich Eichiner, the report says that if the demand holds for the i3, BMW would increase capacity accordingly. The i3 goes on sale next month in Germany before a global roll out in the US, China and Japan, and with a starting price of $41,350, it is priced slightly higher than current small plug-in vehicles offered in the US like the Chevy Volt, Ford Focus Electric and Toyota Prius Plug-in, though features more use of advanced, lightweight materials.

Finalists for 2014 Green Car of the Year announced

The list of finalists for the 2014 Green Car of the Year has been announced, and in a genuinely bizarre twist, there's only one hybrid and no electric vehicles among the five contestants, despite the arrival of cars like the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S. Taking the place of the EVs are a pair of diesels, repping a technology that last won a Green Car of the Year award in 2009, when the Audi A3 TDI took the title. No diesel was in the running for last year's award.
Naturally, both of the diesel finalists are fielded by the Germans - with BMW's 328d and Audi's A6 TDI getting the nod. In the case of the 3 Series, BMW installed a 2.0-liter, turbodiesel, capable of delivering 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, while returning 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Audi and its larger, 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel produce quite a bit more grunt, with 240 hp and 428 lb-ft of grunt, but net a very impressive 38 mpg on the highway in the A6.
Finalists for this year's awards include two diesels, three gas-powered cars and a plug-in hybrid.

BMW joins the early holiday advertising fray with three new ads

October 31 is no longer known as Halloween, or All Saints' Eve or even as that day when all children simultaneously develop huge cavities. It's now known as the day before Christmas/holiday advertising begins. Seriously, as of November 1, it seems like companies across the country and from every industry have declared open season on holiday ad campaigns. It's all premature enough that we're already feeling our inner Grinch showing, but at least some of the ads are better done than others.
Among them are new spots from BMW, which has arrived with this mini-campaign of three 30-second, Christmas-themed spots. There's a cameo from Santa Claus, who's at the helm of a sleek M6 Gran Coupe in one spot, while a 3 Series Gran Coupe slices through a slalom of Christmas trees in another. The final spot, called "Road Home", doesn't focus so much on the brand's "Ultimate Driving Machines," as it does the trip home for the holidays.
We've embedded all three videos below, so take a look and then let us know what you think of this seemingly perpetual holiday marketing calendar creep - and the BMW ads in particular - in Comments.