| Late shoppers crowd local stores on busy pre-holiday weekend
Surely, you weren't the man in the BMW, showing your middle finger to another driver. The National Retail Federation predicted you would all be here, or at least shopping somewhere. It learned the average person had finished less than half of his or her holiday shopping with 10 days left before Christmas. About 41 million hadn't started by the second week of December. "Procrastinators are in good company this year because a shorter window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year means that the holidays have snuck up on many of us," federation President and CEO Tracy Mullin said in a news release. The Bernstein family shopped gradually leading up to Hanukkah. Elizabeth Bernstein rested on a bench in the Galleria with 10-year-old Matthew and 5-year-old Emma. They live in Highland Mills.
BMW présentera une première au Salon de l’auto de Montréal
Au printemps 2009, BMW présentera sa Berline de luxe de Série 7 de 5e génération, porte-étendard de la marque. Ce véhicule démontre que le luxe suprême peut s’allier à une performance dynamique. La BMW de Série 7 sera lancée sur le marché canadien dans les modèles 750i et 750Li. L’empattement de la version Li a été par ailleurs allongé de 140 mm.Ces deux modèles seront alimentés par un tout nouveau V8 double turbo. Ce V8 de 4,4 litres à deux turbocompresseurs développe une puissance de 400 ch et un puissant couple de 450 lb-pi, maintenant disponible entre 1 750 et 4 500 tr/min. Conformément aux principes BMW EfficientDynamics, ce véhicule offrira également un rendement énergétique parmi les meilleurs de la catégorie.Le profil épuré et élégant de la nouvelle Série 7 a été conçu par le dessinateur canadien Karim Habib.
BMW M-division defies downturn
BMW's M division has recorded a 50 per cent increase in sales for the year. M GmbH, the performance car arm of BMW, sold 22,340 vehicles worldwide from November 2007 to November 2008, up from 14,092 vehicles in the previous year. While sales for many manufacturers have been declining, the M Sport division is predicting its most successful year in its 30-year history. Worldwide sales were boosted by the arrival of the BMW M3, selling nearly twice as many units in the first year as its predecessor thanks to the addition of the BMW M3 Convertible and M3 Saloon. Your Say Comments: 7 Join the discussion .
A brief departure from reality
The other Williams debate is its partnership with BMW. Relations have been strained between the two -- prominent BMW bods have voiced the opinion that Williams isn't good enough for its engine. A new deal between the two has yet to be inked but the Monaco win could be the factor that swings it. But what would BMW do if a continuation deal with Williams does not materialize? "Form its own team" has been mooted but that would take too much time. Find another partner team? Like whom? The teams with enough cash to fund a BMW engine supply already have their deals. Buying out an existing team is possible and maybe one or two fit the bill. Sauber is not having a good season. The car is uncompetitive and Peter Sauber is looking grim. Investing a rather large sum of money in a new wind tunnel has drained the team's resources and at the rate it's going, Sauber isn't about to reap many rewards in the way of points to encourage potential investors.
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