2003 Bmw M3 Base Coupe 2-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

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Will global automakers drop local JV partners if China's government says they can?

Chinese economic policies could be in for a big change, as President Xi Jinping pushes the communist country to open its domestic markets even further. That could mean big things for the auto industry, especially when it comes to the country's far-reaching joint-venture system.
According to Chinese law, foreign automakers may only maintain a fifty-fifty partnership with their domestic counterparts. But with Jinping's push for openness leading to potential free-trade deals, that policy could be relaxed (or eradicated all together) in short order. What's an automaker to do?
Well, in BMW's case, stay the course. Automotive News Europe reports that, despite the grumblings about the JV policy changes, the German manufacturer has resigned its agreement with Brilliance through 2028. This is made doubly remarkable by the fact that BMW signed the extension over three years before it was set to expire.

BMW negotiates Daimler alliance, buys out car-service partner Sixt

Sixt sells its stake in DriveNow car-sharing to BMW BMW in talks with Daimler to combine car-sharing Combining car-sharing business to aid robotaxi plans FRANKFURT — Germany's BMW has bought out partner Sixt from their joint venture DriveNow, paving the way for a broader car-sharing and driverless taxi alliance with Daimler to compete against Uber and Lyft. Car rental company Sixt said on Monday it would generate an extraordinary pre-tax profit of about 200 million euros ($248 million) in 2018 from the sale of the DriveNow stake to BMW for 209 million euros. "With DriveNow as a wholly-owned subsidiary, we have all options for continued strategic development of our services," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW's board member for Digital Business Innovation. "Our experience with mobility services supports our development of future autonomous, electrified and connected fleets," he said, adding that BMW aims to have 100 million customers for "premium mobility services" by 2025. The Sixt deal comes as BMW moves closer to a deal to combine its car-sharing services with Daimler's Car2Go, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters last week. The German carmakers want to build a joint business that includes car sharing, ride-hailing, electric vehicle charging, and digital parking services, a senior executive at one of the companies said on Monday. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and BMW declined comment on the status of potential talks on their car-sharing business. "This is speculation, we do not comment," BMW said. The senior executive, who declined to be named because the plan is not public, said: "This will create an ecosystem which can also be used for managing robotaxi (driverless taxi) fleets." BMW would contribute its ParkNow and ChargeNow businesses to the common company, the executive said, adding that there were still differences of opinion over the valuation of Car2Go. The market for ride-hailing services currently makes up around 33 percent of the global taxi market, and could grow eightfold to $285 billion by 2030, once autonomous robotaxis are in operation, Goldman Sachs said in a recent research note. BMW and Daimler are now working on developing autonomous cars, vehicles which could enable them to up-end the market for taxi and ride-hailing services.

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.