BMW World

The spectacular BMW World

The iconic carmaker's exhibition centre, called the BMW Welt -- or BMW World, provides an awe-inspiring experience for customers and helps the company display its offerings in a dreamlike, almost other worldly, setting.

It sits cheek by jowl to the BMW headquarters in Munich, Germany.
The magnificent building was designed by architects Coop Himmelb(l)au for the BMW Group.

As many as 275 architecture firms submitted tenders for the BMW Welt, but in a unanimous decision the winning design was by Professor Wolf D Prix and the Viennese architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au.

Tata's Air Car

First it was an indegenously developed car, Indica. Then, announcement of Nano. Thereafter, takeover of the iconic brands, Landrover and JaG ! But, this is mind-blowing stuff...

• India's largest automaker Tata Motors is set to start producing the world's first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine's pistons.


• Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets by Augustof 2009. The Air Car, called the MiniCAT could cost around Rs. 3,50,000 ($ 8177) in India and would have a range of around 300 km between refuels. The cost of a refill would be about Rs. 85 ($ 2).


• The MiniCAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fiberglass powered by compressed air. Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc. There are no keys - just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 105 kmph. Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 100 rupees, the car will be ready to go another 200-300 kilometers.

GM US sales beat Toyota in June

• General Motors suffered a big fall in US sales in June at 262,000 units ( - 18.5%)
• But its figures were still better-than-expected, but worst June in 17 years… may be a bleak period ahead in near-future
• For the same reason perhaps, the share prices, which had fallen to a 54-year low on Monday, recovered from early falls to close up 2.2% in New York
• Bonus it beat Toyota
• Toyota sold 69,000 less than GM ( drop by 21 %, with its truck sales in particular falling by 38.9%)
• Ford sales fell by 27.9 %

The shrinking market continued its shift toward more fuel-efficient models. Some automakers were caught with too few of the smaller cars.That includes Toyota, which didn't have enough of its fuel-efficient Prius, Corolla or Yaris cars at dealerships to keep up with demand. Prius sales were hurt by a battery shortage, while sales of the Corolla and Yaris suffered because of plant capacity.
When consumer tastes change as quickly they have this year, it's tough for automakers to react in a matter of months. Additional workers have to be brought in to factories and trained to build different cars
Only Honda, whose lineup is tilted toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, reported a sales increase for June - slightly over 1 percent. Honda car sales were up nearly 20 percent, truck sales down 24 percent.
Elsewhere, the picture was far worse. Nissan Motor Co. reported sales off nearly 18 percent. Sales at Ford, which still relies on trucks and SUVs, plunged almost 28 percent. And Chrysler LLC took a huge hit - down nearly 36 percent.

Old vehicles face ban from UAE roads

Acc to reports, vehicles older than 20 years will no longer be allowed on the UAE's roads from January .

Licences for light vehicles manufactured before 1988 would not be renewed after January, while the import of cars manufactured five years earlier would be banned

The decision was aimed at regulating licensing of light and heavy vehicles with the objective of reducing traffic, and to protect the environment from the emissions.

Licences of cars manufactured 15 years ago would also not be renewed from January 2010, he added.

The decision also bans transfer of licence of vehicles aged more than 10 years.

However, vintage and classic cars have been exempted from the new rules, if they fulfil technical requirements, he said.

The UAE has 1.8 million vehicles of different makes and manufacturing years. Import of used light vehicles would be allowed if it is not more than five years old or not more than seven years old for heavy vehicles.