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75% of BMW 2 Series Active Tourer buyers will be new to BMW

75% of BMW 2 Series Active Tourer buyers will be new to BMW The new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer – BMW’s front wheel drive small family mover – went on sale in the UK in May and looks set to take on the Mercedes B Class and bring new buyers to the BMW brand. BMW say they are expecting around three quarters of all buyers of the new 2 Series Active Tourer will be new to the brand, which is a big opportunity for BMW. BMW purists may bemoan the front wheel drive setup as a betrayal of all BMW stands for (although you will be able to get xDrive 4WD versions), but for BMW it’s a very pragmatic way to go.

One Lap of the Web: Remembering the dearly departed

-- With news that Toyota is leaving the great state of California for the greater (by landmass, anyway; your own opinion may vary) state of Texas, it's worth reminding ourselves that Toyota in America started as one lonely building on 6000 Hollywood Blvd., having taken over a former Rambler dealership. (The site is still a successful Toyota dealership.) That first year of sales in 1958 saw 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser sold -- more as curiosities than as practical transportation, we'd wager. -- At any rate, Toyota's move from California to Texas is moving from "one of the most eco-friendly states in the union," according to Ward's Auto, "to the U.S.’s equivalent of China." -- Ten years ago today, the last Oldsmobile rolled off the line at Lansing Car Assembly.

Start up mobility van maker VPG shuts down

Van maker Vehicle Production Group -- recipient of a $50 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy -- has suspended operations and is in the process of being sold, its former CEO said Wednesday. The Allen Park, Mich., company, which made MV-1 vans for the disabled, terminated about 100 workers and closed its offices in February.