BMW Group has released its sales numbers for 2017 and they show the last 12 months for the company have been really successful. The announcement even goes on to say “the BMW Group reconfirms its position as the world’s leading premium automotive company,” but there’s a small catch. Nevertheless, the company was outsold by Mercedes-Benz, keeping the order in the three-way German luxury sales race unchanged. Sales of BMW brand models rose 4.2 percent in 2017 to 2.09 million passenger cars and SUVs, compared with a 9.9 percent gain to 2.29 million at Mercedes, w...
Audi of America, a unit of AUDI AG, reports a November sales increase of 12 percent to 19,195 deliveries, as the Q7, new Q5 and the new-to-the U.S. A5 Sportback, lead consumer demand. Consumer demand for the new Q5 and Q7 helped drive November's sales increase. Deliveries of the Q5 were up 31 percent to 5,467. The Q7 deliveries increased to 3,292, and have now increased 23 percent year-to-date. SUV sales for Audi increased 23 percent to 10,351. The addition of the A5 Sportback to the A5 Cabriolet and Coupe lineup has brought total sales to 2,243 over last November. Sa...
Every single i3 model sold by BMW in the U.S. is being recalled by the automaker, it has also been forced to freeze sales after crash test concerns. The car, which is sold in pure-electric and gas-electric hybrid forms, has been on sale in the US since 2014, with new model year 2018 i3 cars due to show up in dealerships imminently. Now, though, nobody will be able to buy them. The problem comes down to seatbelt testing or, more accurately, what happens when someone isn’t wearing a seatbelt. Although wearing a seatbelt is mandatory across almost all of the US states &...
U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in October as an increase in purchases of motor vehicles and a range of other goods offset a decline in demand for building materials, suggesting consumer spending remained fairly strong early in the fourth quarter. Retail sales increased 0.2 percent last month. Data for September was revised to show sales jumping 1.9 percent rather than the previously reported 1.6 percent advance. Retail sales increased 4.6 percent on an annual basis. Economists forecast that retail sales would be unchanged in November. The slowdown from September's robust pa...
Tesla faces a lawsuit for racial discrimination at its California production plant. It’s at least the third filed this year by black workers who say they were addressed using racial slurs and that the company ignored their complaints. But Monday's lawsuit, filed by former Tesla employee Marcus Vaughn, is the first to bring those claims on behalf of a large class of black workers at the automaker's Fremont, Calif., factory. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The company is also facing lawsuits accusing it of discrimination against gay and older workers. It ...
