BMW of North America has announced the purchase of a 130,000 square-foot office building on 45 acres of land adjacent to its US Headquarters to create an 85-acre HQ campus to accommodate the company's growth as it continues to expand in the US. Tom Purves, chairman and CEO of BMW (US) stated "BMW has enjoyed successes in the US with steady sales increases since 1991 and now BMW is a leading player in the luxury automotive field in the US.

Ducati , the manufacturer of high performance motorcycles, has confirmed that it plans to make an offer for Moto Guzzi. Meanwhile rumors are rampant that Aprila, the current owner of Moto Guzzi is close to bankruptcy and has "temporarily" halted production of some of its products. Aprila, which is Europe's second largest producer of motorcycles and scooters, also manufactures under the Laverda brand name.

DaimlerChrysler AG says it will keep its 37 % stake in Mitsubishi Motors. CEO Juergen Schrempp said the company remained committed to its strategy of keeping a firm foothold in Asia, despite their decision to cut off financial aid for its partner. Analysts say pulling the plug on Japan's only unprofitable automaker was an admission that Schrempp's strategy had backfired on DaimlerChrysler, which has seen its market value plunge by $48 billion since the Chrysler merger in 1998.

Dongfeng Motor, China's 3rd largest car maker, is in talks about a tie-up in China with French carmaker Renault, says a senior Dongfeng official. Dongfeng said it is not in similar tie-up talks with other carmakers and hopes to form a "triangle relationship between itself, Renault and Nissan." Renault owns 44 % of Nissan. Renault, which said in March it would soon outline a strategy to enter the fast-growing Chinese market, had said it was in talks with Dongfeng on a venture.

DaimlerChrysler AG is to sell its 10.5% stake in South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co., valued at $993 million at current market prices , so further scaling down the German-American company's ties with car makers in Asia. The 2 firms will end a South Korean truck engine joint venture, with Hyundai buying DaimlerChrysler's 50 % stake $51 million. They will also end talks to set up a comprehensive commercial vehicles joint venture in South Korea.

EDS, the state of Michigan's biggest high-tech employer, will axe 950 jobs in that State over the next 2 months, reducing its work force to 12,000 people. Around 450 EDS workers at GM's OnStar division in Troy will become employees of Cincinnati-based Convergys Inc. by the end of June. OnStar dropped EDS from providing call center services. Meanwhile, 500 EDS PLM workers will become employees at one of the 3 equity firms that bought their part of the business.

Ferrari Maserati has announced that whilst Luca di Montezemola will continue to head the Ferrari Maserati Group as its President and CEO, Martin Leach is to take over the role of Maserati CEO, Jean Todt becomes Ferrari Managing Director, Amedeo Felisa will assume the role of Ferrari Deputy Managing Director, and Antonello Perricone leaves Maserati to take on other responsibilities within the Fiat Group.

Honda has reported all-time highs for both sales and net profits for the fiscal year that ended March 31st 2004. Sales rose 2.4% to $77.23 billion and net profits were 8.8% higher. Honda singled out strong results in Europe in the fiscal year with sales rising 15.0%. Honda said that during the year, motorcycle unit sales increased by 13.9% to 9,206,000 units, sales of automobiles increased by 3.3% to 2,983,000 units, and power products sales were 10.1% higher at 5,047,000 units

Hyundai Motor America, which struggled with its quality reputation only a few years ago, has leapfrogged Detroit's automakers and is now ranked just below perennial leader Toyota in a closely watched survey of new-vehicle quality. Hyundai tied with Honda for second place, and it surpassed European rivals in the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey, released April 27th.

Lear Corporation is to buy Grote & Hartmann GmbH, a German supplier of electromechanical components for $218 million. Lear has been upgrading its electronics expertise for several years. The company spent $2.30 billion in 1999 to buy United Technologies Automotive, a leading supplier of electrical, electronic, motor and interior products and systems. Automakers, especially in Europe, have been reluctant to pass on responsibility for cockpit systems to suppliers.

Magna International Inc., Canada's largest auto parts maker, has agreed to buy the operations of DaimlerChrysler AG's New Venture Gear unit for about $435 million to expand sales of drivetrain components. New Venture had $1.5 billion in sales last year and has factories in Syracuse, N.Y., and Roitzsch, Germany, said Magna in a statement. The agreement calls for Magna to initially buy an 80 % stake in New Venture's U.S. operations, which also include a sales office and research center in Troy, and acquire the rest in 2007.

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp, the truckmaker owned 65 % by DaimlerChrysler and 20 % by Mitsubishi, has admitted that a design defect had been responsible for more than 50 accidents since 1992 and recalled 112,000 trucks in Japan. The company had blamed improper maintenance for the wheel hub problems. Now 7 former Mitsubishi Motors Corp. executives have been arrested, suspected of professional negligence and falsifying reports about a faulty truck hub blamed for 1 death and dozens of accidents.

Mitsubishi Motors says it has secured $4 billion in emergency rescue funds. Japan's 4th-largest car maker vowed a return to profit by April 2006, through a restructuring that will see it close a plant in Japan and cut its non-factory workforce by 30 %, or 7,600 people, in 3 years. Much of the bailout will be paid for by its main shareholders in the Mitsubishi group -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corp. and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Scania says the JCA Group in Brazil, currently Scania's biggest bus customer, has placed an order for 143 buses for delivery before the end of August. The vehicles are coaches for long-distance and intercity operations. "This is one of the biggest bus deals in our history. This sale is significant for Scania, not only because of the large volume, but also because it confirms the strength of our brand within the JCA Group." declares Wilson Pereira, director of sales of Scania buses in Brazil.

The trucking industry hauled more than 9 billion tons of freight in 2003, or 68.9% of all freight tonnage transported in the U.S., according the American Trucking Assns. (ATA). The industry generated revenues totaling $610 billion. Further, trucking revenues are likely to pass the $1 trillion mark by 2015 and account for 87.3% of all freight transportation revenue. In the ATA 2003 report, rail moved 12.9% of U.S. freight, another 7.7% was waterborne, and 9.4% went by pipeline. Air freight (0.1%) and rail intermodal (0.9%) freight combined equaled just 1% of U.S. freight in 2003.

ThyssenKrupp, the German steelmaker, has acquired a 25.2 % stake in automotive supplier Bertrandt. According to Bertrandt, Thyssen's automotive division had bought 2.54 million shares in the company from personal holdings of its chief executive and one board member. Bertrandt, which has a free float of 24 % is also controlled by Porsche AG, which holds 25 %, and Bertrandt's own management and employees.

On the lighter side .... some strange but true stories.

West Bromwich Building Society in Britain is offering a free Rover car with every mortgage worth over 90,000 pounds ($161,100). It says it will give borrowers a 3-door Rover 25, MG Rover's best-selling car worth about 8,000 pounds, as part of its 'Brum Brum' mortgage. Competition is rife in the UK mortgage market with house prices continuing to climb amid low interest rates and a shortage of houses.

The Italian State Police (Polizia) have just received their latest weapon. Celebrating its 152nd birthday, this police service received a special gift from Lamborghini - a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo. The 500 horsepower V10 supercar can travel at speeds over 300 km/h, and has been finished in the police car livery of bright blue paint with white stripes, various decals, sirens and a blue light mounted on the roof.

A turkey attacked a Ford Explorer so fiercely in Maine, USA that it was left injured and dazed. The bird had seen its reflection in the car's paint and thought it was a rival bird.

Three bungling bank robbers were arrested in Orsa, Sweden after their getaway car refused to start. Police picked up the trio as they stood waiting for a tow truck.

Thousands of motorists in Moscow have staged a silent protest over the introduction of tax on winter tyres, compulsory third-party insurance and policemen who put on their sirens simply to beat traffic jams.

Motorcyclist Hans Hitzig of Schleiz, Germany was so surprised to win a new Harley Davidson in a raffle, he had a heart attack and died as he was handed the keys.

Gary Smith, of Geelong, Australia agreed to help a motorist who had knocked on his door and asked for water for his car's radiator. While Mr Smith was getting the water from his kitchen the driver ran off with his hall carpet.

A thief in Dublin completely ruined the ignition of a Mini Metro while trying to steal it. But he still could not get way - he hadn't noticed that the car only had 3 wheels and was jacked up in one corner.

A learner driver in Calgory, Canada has been banned by her driving school after having 3 crashes in each of her first 3 lessons.

A theatre group in Germany is performing a 15-minute play called 'Angry Wheels' at Hamburg service stations to warn of the perils of road rage.

A Taxi driver in Milan, Italy found an urn full of ashes on his back seat. He said "The worrying thing was the police told me if it isn't claimed in 3 months, its mine !"

After being crashed into 8 times in 6 months a woman in Cleveland, Ohio is having her Toyota Camry exorcised by a priest. She's convinced that the car is jinxed.

A heart surgeon caught doing 113 mph has kept his license after a Hamburg court heard that a ban would prevent him getting to hospital , so putting his patient's lives at risk.