Euro Auto Trends

2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i We prefer the turbo-four Z4. I know BMWs are expensive because they are premium cars with premium equipment and lots of technology inside.

The month of January is off to a poor start in terms of European car sales if the results from France and Italy are anything to go by.

The jury on the likely US sales tally for 2012 is still out after a January that (pleasantly) surprised our resident statistician Bill Cawthon and sparked off a bit of discussion at just-auto Towers this week – will the light vehicle market for the year break through 14m, as an increasing number of pundits suggest or will the remaining 11 months see it pegged back to the 13.5m-ish suggested late last year?

Chrysler last night (2 February) confirmed it will add about 1,800 jobs at its Belvidere, Illinois assembly plant, including a third shift “and hundreds of jobs for the production of the new Dodge Dart”, by the third quarter of 2012.