It wasn’t exactly The Muppets Take Manhattan, but BMW did put a pretty good rush on New York City Thursday evening when a cadre of its executives were met by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the German automaker formally launched its Manhttan-based new-technology startup.

BMW is betting hugely on a brand extension known as iVentures, in which it's investing up to $100 million in order to foster innovation and premium services in a bid to develop cutting-edge mobility services with the "speed and agility of a startup."Continue reading...

Not only is BMW demonstrating a new combativeness about competing for share in the recovering U.S. luxury-car market – it's now reviewing its American advertising agencies – but the German automaker also is looking for ways to extend the BMW brand as a kind of shorthand for all types of “automobility” worldwide.

Most of the latter is being done under the banner of “BMWi,” which the company launched earlier this year as a channel for a series of hybrid and electric vehicles that BMW has in the pipeline.Continue reading...