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BMW gearing up for Sochi Olympics with bobsled documentary [w/video]

BMW might be a German brand, but that isn't keeping its US branch from helping out Team USA as the 22nd Winter Olympics gets set to kick off in Sochi, Russia next month. We last reported on BMW's partnership with Team USA's bobsled team in November of 2012, but with barely a month until the opening ceremony, it's about time we hear something new about the team's progress. And that's exactly what's going to happen when Driving on Ice airs this Sunday afternoon. The documentary charts the progress of the Team USA/BMW partnership to redesign the team's two-man bobsled for an event in which the USA hasn't captured gold in since 1936. And if you're concerned that this will be nothing more than a long advertisement for BMW, then you'll enjoy knowing that the program has more to do with the Team USA bobsledders than with the automaker. Even the trailer stars a number of team members and coaches, along with BMW DesignWorks USA's Michael Scully, lead designer on the program. There's a short preview embedded below, so if you just can't wait for next month's Olympics to kick off, you'll want to tune into NBC at 12:30 pm (Eastern time). Scroll down to watch the video preview and check out the full press release from BMW. BMW Slides into 2014 Winter Olympic Year with Announcement of U.S. Olympic Marketing Campaign, Bobsled Documentary. "Driving on Ice," a Film About BMW's Redesign of the Team USA Two-man Bobsled, to Air This Sunday on NBC. Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 3, 2013... BMW of North America, the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), today announced its U.S. Olympic marketing campaign for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games which includes a series of Olympic-themed advertisments, consumer and retail activations, social and digital media executions, and a national drive campaign to benefit Team USA. In addition, a documentary on BMW's complete redesign of the U.S. two-man bobsled entitled "Driving on Ice" will air this Sunday, Jan. 5 at 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST on NBC. "Driving on Ice" chronicles BMW's collaboration with the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF) to deliver a fleet of six new two-man bobsleds, applying the automaker's world-class design and engineering expertise to help Team USA chase its first Olympic gold medal in the event since 1936.

2015 BMW X4 slides in on the diagonal starting at $45,625 in the US

If BMW has shown us anything, it's a knack for creating niches and expanding its product portfolio. Go back to the early '90s and it had essentially four models: the 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series. End of list. Since then, the Bavarian automaker has not only taken on Mini and Rolls-Royce, but has expanded its own range of models exponentially. You can chalk a big part of that up to crossovers, and another sizable chunk to giving existing models a different roofline and calling it something new. What we have here is a prime example of both.
Previewed in concept form the better part of a year ago at the Shanghai Motor Show, the slantback version of the X3 (and the baby brother to the X6) is now here in full production guise. Mechanically it's essentially the same as the new X3 on which it's based, but amps up the "sport" at the expense of the "utility" part of the SUV equation.
BMW will undoubtedly offer a wide range of powertrain configurations in markets around the world, but back in the United States it'll be offered in two specs: the X4 xDrive28i, packing a 2.0-liter inline-four with 240 horsepower and a $45,625 sticker price (including destination), or the X4 xDrive35i with the 300hp 3.0-liter six and a $48,925 MSRP. Either way, you're getting an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.

China's largest dealer body pushes back against foreign automakers over huge inventories

Do not think for a second that automakers forcing inventory on dealers in order to pad the numbers is a ruse known only in the US. Stories of individual brands have hinted at the trouble Chinese dealerships are having trying to move units as the country's economic growth remains hot but comes off the boil, like the one revealing that 95 percent of Toyota-FAW showrooms are losing money. Yet Toyota isn't the only culprit, and the issue has become so dire that the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the largest dealer body in the country, has written to the government to complain. Chinese car sales are expected to close out the year with an annualized growth of six-percent, down from last year's 14 percent when targets were set, while in the background the pace of overall economic expansion is the slowest its been since the early nineties. Automakers, shipping cars on schedule to make their earlier targets, have blown up inventories such that they are an average of 1.8 times monthly sales, when the preferred multiplier is from 0.9 to 1.2. According to the CADA, the price wars and necessary incentives mean that only 30 percent of dealers are operating in the black. That number is down a whopping forty percent since 2010. In response, Toyota has already said it will not make its 2014 target of 1.1 million cars sold. We're a long way from 2012, when Toyota planned on selling 1.8 million cars in China in 2015, a target that's now as realistic as a manticore. BMW, Honda and Nissan have erased numbers on their spreadsheets, too; BMW growth dropped from 20 percent to 8 percent midyear after it began "reducing wholesale supplies," and Honda has been reworking its plans as sales have decreased each of the past six months. It's a big deal for Chinese dealers to begin protesting publicly, the CADA saying, "In the past, dealers were angry, but dared not speak out. But now, they have to shout because the situation is getting so unbearable." With six-percent growth forecast for next year and dealers unwilling to remain underwater, The Year of the Sheep coming in 2015 could portend meaning beyond the zodiac. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: AP Photo/Andy Wong BMW Honda Nissan Toyota Car Buying Car Dealers