Audi will be the first German automobile manufacturer to race in Formula E. Audi is taking over ABT Sportsline’s place on the grid. The Allgäu-based team has been successfully present in Formula E since the electric racing series’ inception and in the future will be taking care of the Audi race cars as the fielding team. Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler will start in the fourth Formula E season in Hong Kong at the beginning of December. Audi has been giving its name to the team since Formula E’s inaugural season in 2014 and in the Brazilian Lucas di Grassi providing one of its factory drivers to date. In addition, the Allgäu-based squad has been able to use the infrastructure of the Competence Center Motorsport in Neuburg. For the 2016/2017 season, Audi intensified the partnership in the form of financial and technical support. Now, on taking over ABT Sportsline’s entry slot, the final step has been made toward a full-fledged factory commitment which will then be under the team name of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler.
• BMW Group sales achieved their best ever June, with sales in the month totaling 232,620 cars, a 2.1% increase year-on-year. It was also a record first half-year with sales of the BMW Group’s three premium brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, increasing by 5.0%; a total of 1,220,819 vehicles have been delivered to customers around the world so far this year. “June rounds off our best ever first half-year and the BMW Group remains the world’s leading premium car company,” commented Dr. Ian Robertson, Member of the BMW AG Board of Management for Sales and Brand BMW. “We’ve already sold more than a million BMW vehicles this year, which is a new first-half-year record. June also saw our successful electrification strategy expand still further to include the MINI brand, meaning customers can now choose from nine electrified BMW Group vehicles.
• Following the success of the relaunched Patrol Super Safari five-door earlier this year, Nissan have responded to the demands of the Gulf’s 4WD-loving motorists. This time it’s the three-door version of the Patrol Super Safari — also known as the Hard Top version — that is being re-launched, to the delight of the region’s off-road enthusiasts. “When we relaunched the Patrol Super Safari station wagon in March it was as a response to the demands of our customers who had both a deep sense of nostalgia for the vehicle and a genuine appetite to see its return,” explained Fadi Ghosn, Chief Marketing Officer of Nissan Middle East. “We quickly realized after the relaunch, however, that there was equally an appetite to see the return of the three-door variant.”