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Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.
According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.
Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

Watch man destroy his M6 'lemon' with a sledgehammer and ax

Just to be clear, the owner of this BMW M6 isn't ready for another one. He and his friend destroyed the V10-powered coupe in anger at the entrance to the Frankfurt Motor Show in a decidedly public fashion. Bild and GT Spirit report that the owner was angry over mysterious quality and reliability issues that he claims BMW wasn't able to fix. What we have here, folks, is claimed to be a very expensive lemon.
As the story goes, owner Pourmohseni Hadi bought the 2007 M6 in 2008, and five years later, he is still complaining about mysterious vibrations, rattles and severe jolts during gear changes - the latter he says have caused passengers to become nauseous. The car was taken to several BMW repair shops in Italy and Hadi says he he has written a letter to the automaker about his issues, but the car was never fixed and the letter unanswered, he claims. What we don't know is how many miles the car has been driven and when all these problems started happening. The situation reminds us of a certain Lamborghini Gallardo from a couple years back.
While we understand Hadi's frustration, perhaps an M6 just doesn't suit his tastes. After all, we'd be lying if we said a perfectly functioning M6 of this generation wasn't bumpy over uneven surfaces and wouldn't make some passengers nauseous, with its stiffly sprung suspension and dizzying 500-horsepower V10. Anyone wanna bet his M6 was equipped with one of BMW's notoriously abrupt SMG single-clutch gearboxes?

BMW joins the early holiday advertising fray with three new ads

October 31 is no longer known as Halloween, or All Saints' Eve or even as that day when all children simultaneously develop huge cavities. It's now known as the day before Christmas/holiday advertising begins. Seriously, as of November 1, it seems like companies across the country and from every industry have declared open season on holiday ad campaigns. It's all premature enough that we're already feeling our inner Grinch showing, but at least some of the ads are better done than others.
Among them are new spots from BMW, which has arrived with this mini-campaign of three 30-second, Christmas-themed spots. There's a cameo from Santa Claus, who's at the helm of a sleek M6 Gran Coupe in one spot, while a 3 Series Gran Coupe slices through a slalom of Christmas trees in another. The final spot, called "Road Home", doesn't focus so much on the brand's "Ultimate Driving Machines," as it does the trip home for the holidays.
We've embedded all three videos below, so take a look and then let us know what you think of this seemingly perpetual holiday marketing calendar creep - and the BMW ads in particular - in Comments.