According to Auto News via our friends over at AutoBlog Karmann may be up for sale sooner than later. Karmann is a German coach builder that also happens to produce the top for the BMW 1 series convertible. Audi had pulled their contract for the since departed A4 Cab earlier in the year disrupting a much needed source of income.
It is a family run business and they are currently weighing all of their options. The workforce has been slashed by 500 already and 1000 of the 5000 workers are slated to get cut as well in order to keep the company afloat.
The convertible roof business has been steady (partly thanks to the 1) but the real issue is in the vehicle assembly for automakers. They operate much like Magna does for BMW in producing vehicles via contract. Cars that have recently been produced by the company include the Audi A4 Cab, and the MB CLK. They also assemble kits and produce chassis.
Part of the reason for the decrease is the fact they basically designed the Chrysler Crossfire from the ground up, and needless to say that was not a huge hit.
Karmann for years produced many VW products, from the cabrio Beetle and Ghia to the much aclaimed Corrado. The BMW 635 CSI was also produced in significant numbers by the company.
What will the sale of the company mean for BMW is still up in the air, but hopefully it will not impact the production of the 1er roof.
BMW Group Press Release: For the first time over 600,000 cars delivered by end of May BMW X6 off to a strong start
Munich. The BMW Group increased its automobile sales once again in May. 133,496 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles were delivered to customers (prev.yr.: 128,434) in the month under review. This represents a gain of 3.9%. For the year to May, sales climbed 6.7% to reach a total of 618,731 vehicles (prev.yr.: 579,745). This is the first time in the company’s history that more than 600,000 vehicles have already been sold by the end of May.
BMW brand grows by 2.0%
For the BMW brand, deliveries rose 2.0% to 110,704 automobiles (prev.yr.: 108,515) in May. 515,989 units were sold for the year to the end of May. That represents an increase of 4.4% over the same period last year (494,417). Once again the main growth drivers were models of the BMW 1 Series which recorded sales of 22,090 vehicles (prev.yr.: 10,932 / +102.1%) in the past month; the BMW 5 Series Touring models with sales of 4,505 (+9.7% / prev.yr.: 4,105); and the BMW X5 models with 10,275 (+2.9% / prev.yr.: 9,981) units sold.
The Canadian Grand Prix will take place this Sunday with qualifying on Saturday. You can watch the race 1pm on FOX this time around, the qualifying will be on Speed but may not be shown in all areas due to the Grand Am Rolex series race at Watkin’s Glen (the Daytona Prototypes will have BMW entries from Rum Bum Racing and SAMAX).
Kubica has been running well of late and within the last practice session so he of the two drivers is the one to watch and as always BMW will be in the hunt for a victory.
Weather for qualifying will be be clear, but scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for the race on Sunday.
Take a lap with BMW/Sauber F1 pilot Nick Heidfeld around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Today, I thought I would discuss this little conundrum BMW has gotten itself in.
I was able to spend sometime this weekend with some friends discussing the finer things in life; cars, fences and window blinds (please keep reading, in all seriousness this really has to do with cars). I am blessed to have friend’s that share my passion for cars, though we all have some what different tastes. Some like US built cars and trucks, others Japanese and of course German engineered marvels. During this discussion (the car portion) the one thing that I could not get out of my mind was how BMW has not learned from the past or from other’s mistakes.
BMW has posted an official “teaser” video of a Concept car that will be unveiled at the BMW Museum on June 10. The public Grand (re) Opening will be on 6.21.08.
We have been hearing rumors for a few months that BMW has been working on a Hydrogen or Hybrid powered super car. Instead of playing cat and mouse with other manufacturers BMW wanted to change the playing field and how people thought of super cars from a performance and efficiency perspective.
Whether this car is what we have been hearing about is up for debate. This also may finally be the concept California Spyder originally introduced back in 2005 as as design study for the Z9 or is it the Z10?
Since we originally gave you much of the details about the soon to be released 7 (07.07.08 as we have been reporting since April) things have been fairly quiet in the form of rumors. We originally discussed the possibility of the famous 7 series night vision being moved into the Heads Up Display. Our sources still indicate this indeed will happen and that it is a product from Siemens VDO.
Though this is not the view of 7 with this technology active it shows what we can expect (according to sources).
The system could consist of a long range infrared camera behind behind the grill allowing for night vision of up to 500 feet down the dark road. Using this technology adapted from military as well as search and rescue will allow the warm objects to show up more vividly on the screen than the cold inanimate objects allowing the driver to see and react accordingly. The presentation in the head-up display has the advantage that the improved night vision is in the driver’s direct field of vision. Within the HUD makes more sense for safety sake, looking to the side (iDrive screen) was always tedious and took the driver’s eyes off of the road.
This review was original published on our sister site, MotoringFile. For all the dedicated BMW fans, consider it a glimpse into a different yet strangely similar world.
The idea of bigger MINI can seem like an anomaly. For those not familiar with the car, the entire concept seems at odds with the brand. Why would anyone want a slightly larger MINI. At what point does a larger MINI become just another car? And if a larger MINI doesn’t reflect the character of the brand, how does BMW expect this car to be successful?
Luckily BMW had all this in mind (along with some good instincts) when designing and engineering the car. In my week with the Clubman I found that it does the unthinkable by offering more space but retaining 90% of what auto enthusiasts love about the MINI. The handling and feel that have always made the MINI feel so special is almost all there. And to anyone but the enthusiast, the difference is probably barely noticeable.
BMW NA Press Release: The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) today reported May vehicle sales of 31,781, an increase of 3.1 percent from the 30,819 vehicles sold in the same month of 2007. For the first five months of 2008, BMW Group sales are down 2.4 percent, to 131,758 vehicles versus the 134,944 sold January through May of 2007.
BMW Brand Sales
BMW brand sales were down 4.6 percent, to 25,469 vehicles compared to 26,689 vehicles sold in May 2007. Year-to-date, BMW reported sales of 110,569 vehicles compared to the 119,359 reported in the same period a year ago, a decline of 7.4 percent.
BMW will introduce the world to a further customizable automobile. As we recently hinted at, BMW has all intentions of making their future cars feature 2-way communication and a completely customizable experience. Much in the same way a personal computer can be customized the vehicle will be able to be, screen savers, colors of the menus etc. These customizations will not need to be made within the car, they can be made remotely on a personal home computer and transferred to the vehicle via a remote server from the internet (GSM Telematics unit) or from a portable device (car key fob, USB fob drive, CD/DVD, etc.)
What is of greater interest is what else we have learned: Functions for the engine and boost levels will also have user preferences that can be customizable for performance or economy, diagnostics can also be accomplished via two way communication with the server. Time shifting radio (Tivo for the radio is now possible with a hard disk based system) the ability to log on to the net and start the HVAC system, to schedule when the seat heaters turn on etc.
All of this will be done via the web (or as above) eliminating much of the fuss associated with making changes within the car, this builds on the current use of Connected Drive. Each user can customize the car to his/her preferences and the car will automatically adjust the setting once the key fob is detected just as many features today do.
Here is a video that describes the current abilities and developments of the BMW Efficient Dynamics program. There are shots of an iDrive screen with guages/meters showing the efficiency and current usage levels of Efficient Dynamics technologies.
It is also worth noting that the direct injection with lean burn technology is mentioned. If and when BMW is able to find a way to introduce this to the US it would be a boost in efficiency and power!
BimmerFile is dedicated to bringing you the most interesting news, links and reviews related to the BMW brand and it's vehicles.
We believe in the old school BMW ownership experience. We believe in garage nights with a six pack and some friends. We believe in 2002s, in E30 M3s and E34 540s with the 6 speed. We believe in progress in both design and engineering but we haven't lost sight of what made the brand and its products great all those years ago. And yes, we believe in the manual transmission.
We long for the days of the wave and for the days of roll-up windows. Yet we love the gadgets on the inside and the xenons on the outside.
In short, we can't get enough of BMWs. This is BimmerFile.
Sections: E81/82/E87 1 Series, In the Press Jun 10th, 2008 No Comments 
