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BMW shuffles chairs in its design department

BMW Group has made some changes to its design team since August 1, and has shuffled top personnel to different positions at BMW Design, Mini Design and Rolls-Royce.
The BMW Design team led by Karim Habib (middle, right) gains a new head of Exterior Design in Domagoj Dukec (right), who has worked for the exterior design team since 2010 and shaped the Concept Active Tourer.
Oliver Heilmer (left), who has worked for BMW's interior design unit since 2000 and designed the 5 Series interior, replaces Marc Girard as head of Interior Design BMW Automobiles. Marc Girard goes to manage BMW's subsidiary design group, BMW DesignworksUSA.

2015 BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe might be a better 3 Series sedan

At BMW, there really is something for everyone these days. Just take a look at the massive 3 Series/4 Series range - you can have a sedan, coupe, convertible, wagon, or funky-backed Gran Turismo. And now, with the introduction of the 2015 4 Series Gran Coupe, you can have another seda... err, hatchback, actually. But perhaps, a better one.
Compared to the 3 Series sedan, the 4 Series Gran Coupe is both longer and wider by about half an inch, but is shorter in overall height by an inch and a half. Honestly, to our eyes, it looks a little better than the 3 Series, too, what with its longer roofline, more sculpted rear haunches and lower stance. Full interior volume specs for the 4GC aren't available as of this writing, but we expect them to be roughly the same as the 3 Series, perhaps with a small decrease in headroom and rear legroom. Trunk space, at 17 cubic feet, matches the 3 Series sedan, and because the 4GC actually uses a hatchback design, it should be easier to access.
Powertrains are completely carryover from the rest of the 3/4 Series range. The 428i uses BMW's well-liked 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four with 240 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque, and the 435i is fitted with the company's 3.0-liter turbo-six, good for 300 hp and 300 lb-ft. An eight-speed automatic is the only transmission available in the US with either model and rear-wheel drive is standard. Only the 428i can be had with BMW's xDrive all-wheel-drive system, and interestingly, the 428i Gran Coupe is actually expected to be more fuel-efficient than its 3 Series sedan counterpart. The GC is estimated to return 23/35 miles per gallon city/highway, compared to the 23/33 mpg in the 328i sedan. The 435i Gran Coupe should achieve the same 22/32 mpg ratings as the 335i sedan.

Mercedes says it's tops in luxury sales for 2012, not BMW

It turns out that Mercedes-Benz North America has legitimate claim to being the top selling luxury nameplate in the US in 2012.
While sources such as Autodata had put BMW in the top spot, registration data from R.L. Polk shows that Mercedes customers registering new vehicles topped the Bavarian automaker in the most recent calendar year. Polk says Benz posted 274,123 registrations, compared with BMW's 268,498.
In terms of sales posted, BMW had bested Benz 281,460 to 274,134. But sales are recorded somewhat inconsistently from automaker to automaker. Some book the sales as soon as they are shipped from factory to dealer. There is perennial gamesmanship between the two German rivals, and the sales numbers suggest that BMW pushed out some extra sheetmetal to dealers in the last four weeks of the year.