Archive for March, 2010
Bud Light Street Beat Delivers Volvo V50 At Vail Village
What could better give enthusiasts enjoyment than jampacked music from reggae blues rock n roll and more. And Bud Light Street Beat Concert Series could give that enjoyment. Imagine a free concert at the heart of Vail Village. And imagine a free 2007 Volvo V50 as a grand prize to a lucky Eagle Summit or Lake County resident. How could one wish for more?
Aside from the new Volvo V50 lucky registered town guests were also given return trip in the Volvo Vail Grand Prize Guest Giveaway Vacation with deluxe accommodations. Additional prizes were also raffled weekly.
The 20062007 Bud Light Street Beat series sponsored by Budweiser started on November 29 2006 and ended on April 11 2007 with local favorite Funkalicious. All Bud Light Street Beat performances except the March 21 show took place at Checkpoint Charlie which is located on the west end of Vail Village. The Countrywide American Ski Classic Street Beat on March 21 was held in Golden Peak finish stadium as part of the Ski Classic festivities.
The eight finalists in the running for the new Volvo V50 seemed reserved almost cowed onstage. Even after the group was trimmed to four they only flaunted a few smiles. But when Tracy Escobedo’s key opened the door of the new Volvo he yelled ‘yeaaaah’ and threw his hands in the air. The crowd bellowed in unison with him. “I had no idea it would be me” Escobedo said after winning. “I only missed one but once you get up there it’s a big surprise.”
The Volvo V50 is the station wagon or the estate version of the Volvo S40 small family car. The Swedish wagon which uses the Volvo P1 platform is equipped a powerful engine that produces 340 horsepower. The said engine debuted at the 2004 Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association SEMA tradeshow in Las Vegas Nevada.
The V50s interior features soft “theatre” lighting of various sections and a translucent “iced aqua” center stack. The wagon is also equipped with a bunch of safety features that include “Volvo Intelligent Vehicle Architecture.” The new estate from the Swedish automaker is a proof of its revolutionary changes that evolve with time. The wagon use refined technology that is far better than that of Volvo 780 parts.
Another variant of the wagon is called the T5 AWD. It features fourwheel drive and a straight5 2.5litre petrol engine mated to a lightpressure turbocharger. Its valvetrain a DOHC design with variable camshaft timing has four valves per cylinder. The engine is capable of producing 220 bhp and 320 Nm of torque.
Since contestants in the local drawing could enter once per Street Beat event Escobedo had accumulated ten chances for his name to be drawn. But the key to open the door of the V50 came down to pure luck. “My boss was down in the crowd and he said I should drive the car to Vegas” Escobedo said. “I live right here in the village so it’s nice to just walk out one day and come back with a car.”
At one point in the contest when several called names in a row did not emerge announcer and Vail Valley Foundation Vice President of Communications John Dakin lamented that “summer will be here soon.” “I’ve never had that much trouble giving away a car” Dakin quipped. “I was about to announce that I’ll take it.”
Dakin counts this year’s Street Beat concert series as a success and looks forward to next year’s festivities. “I think it gets better and better each year” he said. “It’s a great deal for locals and a real amenity for people who just happen to be in town walk down the street and end up in the middle of a fantastic party.”
All the contestants received a custom gift bag from Vail not much consolation but finalist Patrick Benway of Vail took it in stride. “Hey it doesn’t matter it was fun it’s nice to have a local event that creates camaraderie” Benway said. “I’m happy for the guy although I would look good in Volvo.”
About the writer: Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit Mi. she is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
Bmw To Sell 100000 M3s
BMW expects to sell more than 100000 new M3s reported Automobilwoche a German industry paper.
The snooty sales target for the latest generation E90based M3 was revealed by the German automakers M division representative. The M3 is a performance version of the popular compact 3Series vehicles which use some of the BMW 325IS parts. In essence M3 models are based from the E30 E36 E46 and the E92 models. The Bavarian automaker sold 90000 units of its previous M3 the E46 model before the production of such was discontinued.
Compared to the 18000 sales of the original E30 the M3 brand has evolved into a massmarket product in its own right.
Separately BMW announced Tuesday its firm commitment to the Vietnamese market by officially appointing the Euro Auto Joint Stock Company as its authorized importer and distributor in the country.
The Bavarian automaker is entering Vietnam for the second time after a halt of close to two years in a new agreement that will also see Euro Auto being charged with postsale services for all BMW product lines in the territory.
Director General of BMW Asia Roland Krueger said that the company believed that the Vietnamese market is quickly expanding and the group was eager to cement a foothold in the country by striking a strategic partner agreement.
As part of the agreement the distributor built a 3 millionworth custombuilt showroom and service centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Euro Auto Director General Huynh Du An said that his company would initially place orders to import between 200300 of BMW’s latest models including the 320i 325i 530 and the 730Li from now until the yearend.
The automaker had previously entered Vietnam in 1994 with a joint venture with Hoa Binh Automobile but pulled out of the market due to meager sales a year after the ventures inception.
Earlier the BMW Group Asia announced the appointment of its new distributor in HCMC. The HCMCbased Euro Auto Corp. will import sell and supply services for the Bavarian automakers product lines.
Huynh Du An the general director of Euro Auto Corp said that he had opened a boutique showroom at 165 Pasteur Street District 3 to serve customers. These showrooms will be complemented by an interim service facility at 392 Kinh Duong Vuong Street Binh Tan District.
As reported Euro Auto will offer retail and services experience in a newly constructed facility at Phu My Hung new urban area next year. The company expects to sell 200 to 300 car units this year and 500 to 600 cars in 2008.
About the writer: Anthony Fontanelle is a 35yearold automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.
Bmw To Push Through With The F3
After almost three years of lengthy internal discussions and a change of chairmanship finally the longawaited BMW 3 Seriesbased crossover/utility vehicle has reached production approval.
The versatile new BMW CUV which will soon have the F3 badge once it reaches showrooms has been under consideration since 2004 and that is based on the internal documentation recently shared with AutoWeek.
The development of the BMW 3 Series was delayed due the following reasons:
* The German automakers engineering resources are stretched to the limit
* There are already new models lined up for production
Luckily BMWs new Chairman Norbert Reithofer arrived on the scene in late of 2006 and that was also the time that the F3 was reviewed and after some deliberation Chairman Reithofer has given the signal for the production of the F3.
The decision to push through with the production of the F3 is also brought about by the upswing in crossover sales in Europe and the United States in the recent years.
However dont hold your breath just yet since the new CUV may likely to come in North America by 2010 and will have a starting price that will likely to include it into a crowded segment having direct competition with the likes of Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4.
The computer generated renderings shown on the net of the F3 is not yet final since BMW is till on the process of completing up the design. Details on the F3 remain highly speculative. However one thing is for sure that the new BMWs crossover will sit on a modified version of the existing 3 Series platform aside from that there are also plans to adopt various components from the next generation X3 which is scheduled to come out together with the new FlexRay system in 2009.
The FlexRay system aims to provide the new car with a stable network that would boost the advanced electronic driver aids and safety features. And in addition to the standard rearwheel drive moves are taking place to offer the F3 with the option of BMWs xDrive fourwheeldrive system in combination with certain engines. And of course since it is a creation of BMW we can expect that the F3 is going to be equipped with the best auto components and parts such as an AmGeneral oxygen sensor.
The power for BMWs entrylevel CUV will come from a range of fourand sixcylinder gasoline and diesel engines in a lineup similar to the ones found on the existing X3 wherein the top models are receiving an updated version of the potent 3.0liter 300hp twinturbocharged six that was earlier unveiled in the 335i Coupe late 2006.
The decision of BMW to push through with its compact CUV was brought about by the growing concerns over an earlier decision to build a larger sevenseat model which is known internally as the RFK short for raumfunktionales Konzept or space functional concept. It will have the badge F5 and would rival the MercedesBenz RClass. However with the present sale standing of the RClass in North America BMWs top brass are now wondering whether they are doing the right thing.
The degree of confidentiality that surrounds BMWs production plans for the F3 may be revealed by some clues on the companys recent announcement that it will shift production of the secondgenX3 to its Spartanburg South Carolina plant in 2009. Such move will definitely prvide extra space for the F3 at the Magna plant in Steyr Austria where the X3 is currently being assembled.
BMW is hoping that with its F3 it will strengthen Europes growing Csegment MPV ranks which is presently dominated by Ford CMax Volkswagen Touran and the Renault Scenic. Although it sis still very early to say but the F3 is expected to compete against the popular MercedesBenzs BClass which despite its really high price has become quite popular in certain markets with special mention to Germany where more than 68000 of the BClass were sold last year.
About the writer: Zeke Gervis has a degree in Human Resource Management. He is an F1 fanatic and is a collector of racing memorabilias. At present he enjoys working at a consulting firm in Iowa.