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Bangle urges auto design shakeup, says industry not innovating

Controversial designer Chris Bangle, the man behind the notorious E65 BMW 7-Series "Bangle Butt," has some rather sharp criticism for the current crop of automotive designers in an upcoming full-length interview with Automotive News Europe. The preview, posted on Automotive News, details parts of the interview, with the always vocal Bangle lamenting the state of modern automotive design.
"Even concept cars today simply anticipate the next production model coming down the line. Is this innovation? No. And at the end of the day this is what's preventing car design from moving into a new era." Controversial as Bangle's design philosophy may be, we can't help but think he has a point. His so-called "flame surfacing" at BMW and other stylistic elements had a huge influence on modern automotive design, although as the years have passed, there hasn't been much innovation on the same scale.
Interestingly, Bangle also mentions that he's been courted by a few manufacturers that wanted to install the American as the head of their design teams. He's flatly rejected them, telling ANE, "It's not something you can do part time, you have to do it with all your heart and soul or you're going to get it wrong."

BMW bringing 9 Series concept to Beijing

It appears that BMW is ready to take another step upmarket with a new concept flagship luxury sedan at the Beijing Motor Show at the end of April. The showcar is said to preview the company's rumored 9 Series, a sedan that would be positioned against top trims of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, like the rumored S600 Maybach.
According to Automotive News Europe, the concept sedan wears styling language adapted from the curvaceous BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe (pictured above) shown at the 2013 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance in May. It rides on BMW's new, modular platform - codenamed G11 - for the company's largest cars, an architecture also expected to be shared with the next 7 Series and future Rolls-Royce vehicles. It's rumored to bring the weight of the 7 closer to the 5 Series, which would be several hundred pounds lighter when comparing the base models of both current vehicles. We spotted the next-gen 7 Series testing over a year ago, and both it and the 9 Series are expected to go on sale in 2016.
Unfortunately, at the moment there is no official information about the concept. "We don't have any official news yet on anything in Beijing," Julian Arguelles, BMW USA spokesperson, tells Autoblog. However, it's heartening to think that BMW might be adapting the gorgeous shape of the Gran Lusso for production.

BMW suing Saab Automobile Parts for $3.2M

Saab might be all but dead, but that's not stopping automakers that were once involved with the Swedish brand from attempting to reclaim losses. According to a Fox Business report, BMW has filed a 2.6 million Euro suit ($3.2 million USD) with a Swedish district court against Saab Automobile Parts for deliveries that went unpaid.
In 2012, Saab Automobile AB signed an agreement BMW that would see the German automaker deliver four-cylinder gas engines for its 9-3 range.
The suit also asserts that Saab ordered a large number of spare parts, and no payments were made to BMW. At the time, Saab was far from liquid, and filed for bankruptcy in December of last year.