Recycled fishing nets have caught the imagination of BMW sustainability engineers. Ocean waste is now being reprocessed into floor mats for iX and X1 models and more recycled plastic will be used in new models by 2030. Tesla now has around 4,000 supercharger stations globally, up nearly 34% over the same period last year. These provide over 36,100 connectors, also up 34%, as the company presses … [Read more...]
Newslines 24 March
Double-digit growth in demand for British-built cars last month helped deliver the biggest February for UK car production in 17 years, said the SMMT. UK production lines turned out one car every 16 seconds in the month, with total output of 153,041 up 8.0%, as exports grew 13.4% to 118,898 units. The performance helped to drive overall year-to-date production past 300,000 for the first time … [Read more...]
BMW & Toyota plans for plants
BMW will build its X1 SUV at a Dutch contract manufacturer that also produces some of the automaker's Mini models. The new X1 production will begin in August at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born, Netherlands, and global markets will be served from here and Regensburg, German plant. Meanwhile, Toyota will add 400 jobs to build more SUVs at one of its US plants, highlighting its expansion plans … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: X-files reopened with BMW
X-marks the spot for BMW UK sales successes. The SUV series begins with the X1 and since its launch in 2009 over 40,000 have been sold in Britain. Last autumn the second series was announced and first orders are now trickling through. The new X1 runs to five models from about £31,225 to £36,060 with a choice of three diesels – 1.8 150, 2.0 190 or 2.5 231hp – and a 192hp 2.0 petrol. The best … [Read more...]