The BMW Group also published sales data during 2020. The data show that the placement of the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands last year amounted to 2,324,809 vehicles, which is a decrease of 8.4 percent compared to 2019.

BMW itself sold 2,028,659 cars (minus 7.2 percent), MINI ended the year with sales of 292,394 vehicles (minus 15.8 percent), and Rolls-Royce sold 3,756 luxury cars with sales down 26 , 4 percent).

In terms of sales by region, the BMW Group sold 912,621 vehicles (minus 15.7 percent) in Europe, 984,515 (plus 6.1 percent) in Asia, and 306,870 vehicles (minus 18.0 percent) in the United States. In Asia, the largest sales were, of course, in China, where the BMW Group found 777,379 customers (sales growth was 7.4 percent).

The statement also points out that the BMW M sold 144,218 cars in 2020 (plus 5.9 percent compared to 2019), and that sales of electric and plug-in hybrid models (BMW i, BMW iPerformance and MINI Electric) amounted to 192,646 units (plus 31.8 percent).

Finally, the fact that BMW Motorrad sold 169,272 motorcycles last year (minus 3.4 percent).

Autoblog.rs

Anyone who’s ever experienced a Mercedes turbo V12 knows they are immensely powerful machines. Direct from Mercedes, they’ll pin your kidneys to your spine with every press of the throttle. But if ‘a lot’ is not enough, Brabus tunes them to absurd power levels. But Mercedes only offered the V12s in a select number of cars.

Brabus solved that problem by somehow finding room for the V12 in a W212 E-class. They call it the E V12, and it’s even more powerful than a standard AMG V12. You didn’t ask for 788 horsepower in your E-class, but here you go anyway. Want tires to last 20 minutes? You’ll be able to accomplish that with 1,047 lb/ft of torque. We found this one on ClassicDriver, and it’s quite a departure from a standard E63 AMG.

Starting with a 6.3 liter V12, Brabus worked their magic to create those power numbers. But we feel more magic had to be done in order to get the thing to even fit inside a W212 chassis. It’s already a tight fit in the bigger S class, and long-hooded SL roadsters.

Keen eyed observers will see the front radiator support has been ditched in order to accomodate the V12’s front accessory drive system. By that alone, we can only assume the extensive work to cut up a car, and yet make it stronger than before to handle the loads of a big V12.

Inside the car, just about every surface has been changed to high qualify leather, Alcantara or carbon fiber. A special wrapped steering wheel contains Brabus badging, along with carbon fiber. Badges can also be found on the seatbacksm, and a special “one of ten” EV12 badge lets you know how special the car is.

Did you think we weren’t going to mention the body kit? Think again. While Brabus has typically come up with some great looking subtle modifications, the side skirts on the rear wheels will definitely be a love/hate kind of look. But, apparently they do serve a function. Wind tunnel tested, they reduce lift at front and rear, which is a good thing when you’re travelling on the sharp side of 200 miles per hour. Read more > https://mercedes-world.com/e-class/mercedes-benz-e-class-v12-brabus

Source: mercedes-world.com

Porsche's special-edition Boxster bundles corner-carving goodies but doesn't forget about the commute.

Sports cars don't ride this well. After a few miles, disbelief turns to awe. You see, this Porsche Boxster T is aimed directly at the lunatic fringe of car buyers who crave the sportiest handling in a base Boxster. We had a short drive of a European-spec Boxster T in 2019, but we've now spent a few days surfing the potholes and shattered asphalt of our home turf in the United States version. And an apex-slaying suspension just isn't supposed to be this livable.

Porsche makes all of the Boxster's chassis goodies standard in the T and then sprinkles some Ferry dust on the whole thing. The suppleness is surprising considering the T model is equipped with a sport suspension that drops the Boxster nearly an inch (20 mm) and includes 20-inch wheels with tires whose sidewalls appear to offer all the impact protection of a leather helmet. And yet, the Boxster T's ride compliance betters that of many sports sedans. No crash, no smash, no harshness.

Vital to the ride quality are the sport package's standard adaptive dampers—PASM in Porsche language—that adeptly smooths those high-frequency jolts that tend to discombobulate performance cars. A button next to the shifter allows the driver to tighten up the dampers' responses, but there's no real reason to take them out of Normal mode since they continuously adapt to how hard you're driving and whatever bad breaks the road throws at them. But, if you want to ruin the ride, go right ahead and select Sport.

If that over-the-road grace is surprising, the Boxster T's handling isn't. Like a regular Boxster or Boxster S, the T's moves and primary controls foster a close connection that shrinks the car around you. In addition to the sport suspension and 20-inch wheels, the T model makes a few other optional bits standard fare. Every Boxster T comes with brake-based torque vectoring that helps rotate the car into corners and active engine mounts that stiffen or soften to help keep engine motions from upsetting the handling.

A small-diameter sport steering wheel with a drive-mode selector knob is also standard. As precise as the atomic clock, the steering sends all the right signals from the tires and road without any kick or ugliness.

What the T doesn't add is more power. Bolted in behind the driver is the same 300-hp 2.0-liter flat-four that has powered the base Boxster since 2017. The 2.0-liter pulls hard from low rpm once the turbo lights things up, and the engine delivers more than enough acceleration to dispel your regrets over foregoing the 350-hp Boxster S. The flat-four issues a guttural grumble, especially at idle, but the sound improves when zinged to the 7500-rpm redline. The engine will never be confused with a BMW inline-six—or even Porsche's flat-sixes—but tries to compensate for its inability to carry a tune with an angry exhaust note.

Coupled with the optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission ($3730), we expect the Boxster T to get to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, the same time as a mechanically identical PDK Boxster we tested back in 2017. All automatic T models will be able to repeat that performance as many times as you please, since they come standard with the Sport Chrono Package that adds the all-important launch-control function. Left foot on the brake pedal, floor the accelerator, release the brakes, and there you have it: the perfect launch, easy enough to merit an infomercial.

Still, we'd skip the dual-clutch automatic in favor of the six-speed manual. Not only is it's less expensive, but it's more in keeping with the driving-joy ethos of the T. In our testing of the non-T Boxster manual, the DIY gearbox runs to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. Plenty quick.

Some Boxster buyers might wonder about the T's cloth and leather seats. Porsche's puritanical models of the past—the 1988 911 Club Sport, the 1992 911 RS America, and the 1993 911 Speedster—came with pinstriped cloth upholstery, and the T's cloth seats speak to its mission statement. Cloth is grippier than leather, so the thinking is that since you love corners enough to buy this car, you'll want the cloth holding your butt in place. Fabric door pulls replace door handles, another nod to Porsche's racing heritage and the GT models. Our test car wore the T Interior Package ($2770) that adds contrasting stitching throughout and a few bits of trim. At $2770, the option seems expensive for the minor dress-up.

The Boxster T starts at $69,850, or $8900 more than the base Boxster. With one exception, it's possible to add the T's many chassis options to a base Boxster, and the price works out to be about the same as the T. What you miss out on are the T's even lower Sport suspension (a 0.8-inch drop versus 0.4 inch) and its heritage-inspired cloth interior and door pulls. And, while you can build a Boxster to mimic most of the T's goodies, it's unlikely you'd ever find one on a dealer lot. By bundling these options in a new model, dealers can easily order an enthusiast special, and enthusiasts can skip the special order from Stuttgart. The T makes a handling-optimized Boxster easy to find, and its ride makes it easy to drive every day.

Source: caranddriver.com

For 2021 Lexus has updated the looks, tech and performance of the popular IS 300 Sedan. Can Lexus fend off the competition in this segment? We have a complete look.

The compact AMG station wagon is a sportier utility vehicle—but it's not available here.

Many Americans still think of "mom" and "station wagon" in the same sentence, ignoring that the ubiquitous modern SUV is essentially the 21st century's Wagon Queen Family Truckster. But in Europe, wagons are still cool, still the preferred utility vehicles for people with sporty lifestyles. And the faster the wagon, the cooler it is. Which makes the 2020 Mercedes-AMG C63 S wagon about as cool as long-roof load luggers come.

The C63 S wagon is of course the E63 S 4Matic+ wagon's little brother, 11.5 inches shorter, 3.8 inches narrower, 1.3 inches lower, and rolling on a 3.9-inch-shorter wheelbase. It's powered by the same 503-hp, 516-lb-ft version of Daimler's versatile 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 as the AMG GLC63 S Coupe sold Stateside, rather than the big-hitter 603-hp, 627-lb-ft engine of the E-Class version. Can't have the 600-pound-lighter—and, in the U.K., the 23 percent cheaper—little brother upstaging things, can we?

The C63 S wagon's lighter weight is partly because, well, it's smaller, and also because it doesn't have the bigger car's 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system. By Daimler's own numbers, it's about half a second slower to 62 mph than the E 63 S 4Matic+ wagon, which suggests a zero to 60 time of about 3.5 seconds. Given the heavier, all-wheel-drive AMG GLC63 we tested a few years back recorded a zero to 60 time of 3.2 seconds, that might be a touch pessimistic. And there's nothing in it in terms of top speed between the two; Daimler says the E 63 S is good for 180 mph, while the C63 S will do 174.

A 2018 face-lift added the toothy AMG grille up front and a new rear diffuser, plus the option of 19-inch forged alloy wheels instead of the regular 18-inchers. Interior upgrades included a 12.3-inch digital dash and 10.5-inch infotainment screen, a flat-bottomed steering wheel with touchpad controls on the spokes, and a rotary mode controller similar to Porsche's Sport Chrono unit.

While the engine remained untouched, the old seven-speed torque-converter auto was replaced with AMG's nine-speed wet-clutch automatic, and it added an e-diff. AMG Traction Control—the same nine-stage system first seen on the AMG GT R—was made standard on the S. The AMG Dynamic Select system offers five predetermined driver modes, along with an Individual mode that allows you to choose the engine, gearbox, steering, and exhaust settings. AMG Ride Control manages the steel springs and adaptive shocks, and the AMG Dynamics system enables you to manage the ESP settings and torque distribution to the rear axle through four further settings: Basic, Advanced, Pro, and Master.

What's it all add up to? A rambunctious little thug of a wagon, that's what. Next to the C63 S, the E63 S seems calmer, more mature—if any station wagon with Saturn V thrust, a rolling thunder soundtrack, and Drift mode could be called calm and mature. The C63 S feels livelier, noisier, busier, especially at 120 mph or more on the autobahn, where the shorter wheelbase and different suspension settings mean high-speed turn-in response feels more aggressive, and there's much more vertical motion through the chassis. The rear drive balance is real rather than digitally remastered; accessing Drift mode in this thing simply requires turning the traction control off, instead of the video-game cheat code sequence of button presses, paddle pulls, and menu fiddling E63 drivers must engage to defeat the AWD and access its rear-drive mode.

It might not have the brute power of the E63 S, but Lordy it's still fast. On a trip that saw us in a single day dispatch the 700 miles between London and Dresden in eastern Germany, we averaged 100 mph on one 55-mile stretch of autobahn that included more than 5 miles of slow running through construction. The C63 S cruised easily at 130-140 mph when traffic allowed, and on one stretch we saw an indicated 156 mph.

The best thing about the C63 S wagon? Not just that it flies, but that it flies below the radar. Unless you're an enthusiast, it could be one of tens of thousands of diesel C-Class wagons running around Europe on fancy AMG wheels. There's something deeply engaging about a supercar that to most people looks like an ordinary grocery getter. It has utility. But it's very, very sporty.

Source: motortrend.com

Last year, the Volkswagen Golf was again the best-selling car in Europe with around 312,000 units sold. Also, the Golf 8 was chosen as the best car in Germany by Auto Motor und Sport, Auto Bild and Auto Zeitung.

After its introduction at the end of 2019, the Volkswagen Golf 8, despite the corona virus pandemic, took first place in car sales in Europe and Germany. In 2020, more than 312,000 units were sold on the European market, and 134,000 in Germany.

The Golf 8 has been available in all major versions since its introduction, along with the GTI, GTD and GTE models which has given it a special wind in the back. High demand for hybrid models has also contributed to this success. That’s why by the end of the year, every third Golf sold was a hybrid.

In Germany, the new Golf 8 has been named the best car in the compact class. He defeated 16 opponents in tests conducted by Auto Motor und Sport, Auto Bild and Auto Zeitung.

Since 1984, the Toyota 4Runner has made its mark in our lineup as a powerhouse SUV. It’s getting close to having a cult following because of its versatility with its on and off-road capabilities. This is what makes it a great option for any driver, not just those that like to take their adventure off the pavement. Anyhow, at Toyota of N Charlotte, it’s safe to say we’re BIG fans of the Toyota 4Runner, and we’re eager to announce that the ever popular SUV will be redesigned in 2023. Take a look at the details on what to expect from this new Toyota.

What Will the New Toyota 4Runner Bring to the Table?
The current N Charlotte Toyota 4Runner model has a 4.0L V6 engine with Dual Independent Valve Timing. Rumor has it that the 2023 model will offer more than just one engine option. Even though many fans are into the current configuration, adding a couple of options can increase the horsepower, torque, fuel efficiency, and overall create a more versatile SUV than what it already is! A turbocharged option could also be in the works—this will definitely bring an amazing drive time.

It’s possible that a hybrid option for the new Toyota 4Runner model will be in the works as well. As a company committed to going green, mixing this with a popular N Charlotte model is just the right move for the company. Not only does a hybrid model offer better fuel efficiency, it also offers an eco-friendly performance with fewer emissions.

As for looks, the current N Charlotte Toyota 4Runner has a muscular design along with defined lines and features that are out of this world. For a new Toyota 4Runner redesign, the anticipation is getting fans anxious because they know that when Toyota redesigns a model, it’s a drastic change. Our guess is that parts like the back end, front grille, lighting schemes, etc., will see changes. Other accessories like tow kits and roof baskets could even become standard. Thus, there’s reason to believe that the 2023 model will look different.

If an exterior overhaul is added, then changes in the interior would also be necessary. We predict new options are coming in for interior trim materials and fabrics, as well as more space with better distribution. Infotainment, safety, efficiency, and convenience features are predicted to be be added for a better drive time!

Test Drive the N Charlotte Toyota 4Runner Today!
We’ve obviously been very eager for the arrival of the 2023 Toyota 4Runner, but for now were going to in the moment and appreciate the current model of the 4Runner. Test drive the 2021 4Runner or any other new Toyota on our lot. You can get the feel of driving on of our renowned new Toyotas. Make your way to Toyota of N Charlotte today! We’re located at 13429 Statesville Rd just off I-77 at exit 23 in Huntersville. You can also call us to schedule an appointment at (704)875-9199.

Source: toyotaofnorthcharlotte.com