Word: bmw
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...quiet inside. That's one reason the new 328i convertible is BMW's hottest U.S. model (base price: $44,000). Quiet and convertible don't normally travel together, but BMW tamped the noise with a hard-shell top and what it calls tortional stiffness--this car is a rock. That's important when you're cruising on the highway at 120 m.p.h. (We tested the car in Europe.) On the winding back roads in the beautiful Argonne area of France, the ride was tight and sporty yet still luxe, at least in the front seats. The interior also features heat...
Cloth seats or leather? Sunroof or spoiler? Walk into any auto dealership to buy a new car, and you'll be offered a multitude of options. If it's a BMW you're buying, however, there's a twist: you can walk out of the showroom and change your mind later. Perhaps you'd really prefer the poplar interior trim to the brushed aluminum. Or maybe those retractable headlight washers would be useful after all. Your BMW dealer will be happy to oblige with as many changes as you care to make, until a cutoff point: six days before your...
...beginning of the end of its life as an oil producer. Without new finds, output is expected - optimistically - to halve in the next 20 years and stop in 30. And oil's legacy? A country that ranks 124th on the human-development index, but where Hummer and BMW dealerships thrive. Libreville itself has ranked among the Top 10 most expensive cities in the world for most of the past 20 years. But beyond these privileged circles, there is little evidence of a trickle-down effect. Opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou says his party, the Gabonese People's Union, figures that...
...three years ago and now is general manager of the Marina Bay Financial Centre, a $2 billion office-and-residential project that is under construction in downtown Singapore. "Lexus could be the most well-made car out there, but it will never be as attractive as a Mercedes or BMW." This ambivalence is perhaps heightened by Singapore's unprepossessing cityscape. Many great metropolises have icons and landmarks like Big Ben or the Chrysler Building. The only physical attributes associated with Singapore are its statues of "merlions," a chimera with a lion's head and fish's body that was invented...
...Make no mistake, kei are dinky even compared with conventional subcompacts. The popular Daihatsu Move, for example, is 28% smaller on the outside than BMW's iconic Mini. Social and demographic trends in Japan-a country known for its affinity for bonsai and miniature electronics-appear to favor tiny, frugal cars. Young people are postponing or forgoing marriage and children, lessening demand for family-sized autos. For retirement-age baby boomers, minis make practical second vehicles; they are especially favored by obasans, older housewives like Yamamoto who have been the kei's most faithful customers. In Japan's less prosperous...