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Rolls-Royce sketching out SUV for possible 'late 2017' release

With each new story on the Rolls-Royce SUV, the Goodwood automaker comes off as more at ease with their reluctantly birthed yet necessary sport ute. Company design chief Giles Taylor told Autocar that his team is still "sketching to assess the viability of the concept," which to ours ears means they're trying to figure out if such a beast is even possible within the confines of the brand. If it is, Taylor says it will be "a shooting brake, not a crossover with a sloping roof. A proper SUV."
A different company source, unnamed, seems confident that Taylor's team will figure it out, telling the magazine it would start at 200,000 pounds ($335K US). However, that same source said the vehicle will be "a kind of Mercedes-GLK-plus-plus," which is a baffling description in several ways. More reasonable is the speculation that it will ride on Ghost, not Phantom, architecture and make its debut sometime around late 2017.
That Ghost platform is expected to take cues from the carbon, aluminum and steel bones that supported the BMW Vision Future Luxury concept shown at the Beijing Motor Show and destined for the 9 Series. Some of those tricks will also go into the next-generation Phantom, which Autocar says will come in 2017 and not 2020.

BMW Active Tourer to hit US showrooms in 2015

It's been over a year since BMW unveiled the Concept Active Tourer at the Paris Motor Show, and another four months since it brought the concept back in Outdoor guise (pictured above). Now word has it that the Bavarian automaker is putting it into production.
Although production specs and dimensions have yet to be revealed, the Concept Active Tourer came in a bit smaller than the existing BMW X1. The production version is expected to be based on the same platform that underpins the new Mini hatchback revealed last week in LA, meaning that it will be predominantly front-drive, but an all-wheel-drive version could follow.
There will also be a longer version with a third row of seats, forming part of a new generation of front-drive BMWs to take on the likes of the Audi A1 and Mercedes-Benz A-Class family, of which the GLA will be the Active Tourer's most direct rival. Expect the Active Tourer to arrive in 2015 with a new front-drive sedan to follow in 2017 aimed particularly at the North American and Chinese markets.

BMW recalling all 2000-06 3 Series models over airbags in US, 1.6M globally

We just can't seem to get away from recalls involving the faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata. There are already millions of vehicles in need of repair as a result of these ever-expanding campaigns, and BMW is adding another 1.6 million worldwide. The Bavarian automaker is issuing a recall for certain 3 Series models, including 574,000 of them in the US, to replace the passenger-side, front airbag inflator.
Specifically, the campaign covers 3 Series models from the 2000 through 2006 model years built between May 1999 and August 2006. "It's only the E46" generation of cars that are affected, which are now two model revisions old, according to BMW of North America spokesperson Matt Russell, speaking to Autoblog.
These models suffer the same problem as the rest of the vehicles with the faulty inflators. It's possible for the part to rupture during airbag deployment and possibly spray shrapnel at the occupant. However, according to BMW, the automaker isn't aware of any actual cases of this happening in any of its vehicles.