The German luxury car-maker, Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) AG, has announced a new pilot project dubbed BMW on Demand, that would allow consumers to rent the company’s luxury vehicles on an hourly basis, the first project of its kind for the company.

BMW is first launching the service in Munich, Germany, the same city the company’s headquarters is located in.

When the project launches (firm date has not been announced yet), for the next 12-months during the project test period, consumers would be able to rent top vehicles from the company, including the latest X6, M3, and 7-Series sedan at a rate of about $45 USD per hour (for the 7-Series), with other less expensive BMW vehicles costing consumers less on a per hour basis.

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The world’s largest luxury carmaker based in Munich, BMW Group, today announced plans to increase purchases from Mexico in a bid to lower total costs under a new cost cutting program.

More specifically, BMW will buy more auto parts that are manufactured in Mexico for its vehicles that are assembled around the world, particularly in Germany and the United States.

BMW said it would more than double auto part purchases from Mexico over the next few years, starting two years from now.

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The luxury German carmaker, BMW, today released sales figures for the month of May 2010.

The company reported strong year over year gains in sales for select brands and models, including the super expensive Rolls-Royce Ghost that saw sales grow by more than 330-percent compared to the same period last year, as global economies slowly recover from the credit crisis.

The BMW brand sold 101,775 vehicles in May 2010, marking a significant 12.3-percent increase over May 2009.

The BMW 7-Series and the company’s new 5-Series models helped fuel sales.

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BMW Inc. today announced full year 2009 earnings, reporting significant declines in net profit and total sales.

The company said net profit was EUR 210-million, down 36.36-percent from EUR 330-million in fiscal 2008.

Operating income before taxes was up to EUR 413-million, 18-percent up from 2008.

BMW said it sold 1.28-million vehicles in 2009, a sharp drop of over 12-percent from 2008 as people shifted to smaller, less luxurious and more affordably priced vehicles because of the financial and credit crunch.

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