Volkswagen’s Passat wins Car of the Year 2015!

Volkswagen’s Passat is the 2015 Car of the Year. A jury of 58 motoring journalists from 22 countries anointed the VW top dog from a seven-strong shortlist, which also included the BMW 2-series Active Tourer, Citroën C4 Cactus, Ford Mondeo, Mercedes C-class, Nissan Qashqai and Renault Twingo.

Each juror has 25 points to split among the shortlisted seven, with the Passat racking up 340 points in total. That was almost 100 points clear of the second-placed Citroën C4 Cactus which landed 248 points, while the Mercedes C-class came in third with 221 points.

CAR has two jurors on the shortlist, Phil McNamara and Georg Kacher, who both nominated the C4 Cactus as their favourite, giving it six points. But the Car of the Year approach, asking jurors to spread 25 points among the contenders rather than just pick one outright winner, means a consistently scoring car with broad international appeal tends to come through the pack to gain victory.

How the editor of CAR voted

McNamara gave the Passat four points – the same as the Mondeo. Part of his verdict read: ‘Buyers have shifted from saloons to crossovers, but the new Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat attempt to fight back. The Mondeo is the most fun dynamically: drive it hard on our demanding test routes, and its body control, ride quality and responsive controls are exceptional. It’s a very refined motorway car, and the punchy 1.5-litre Ecoboost is great, but the drab, cheap-feeling cockpit is a real letdown.

‘The Passat reeks of quality engineering throughout: it’s a little lighter than the Mondeo, its cabin feels very special, and its sophisticated technology delivers for the consumer: self-driving in traffic jams, automated piloting if the driver is incapacitated, forthcoming active binnacle, and world first trailer assist. If you could combine the Passat’s quality and tech with the Mondeo’s chassis, you’d have an ideal (if trad) car to stem the crossover exodus.

‘But my winner is the Citroën C4 Cactus. It eschews the complex tech of its peers, making a virtue of simplicity to minimise weight and cost, for the consumer’s benefit. So mpg and CO2 figures are impressive. It’s compact but has decent cabin space. The exterior design is handsome, and the interior design peppered with delightful touches, from the asymmetric vents to the cloth grab handles to the gearbox lever.

‘Citroëns often flop in our dynamic assessments, but the controls, peppy 1.2-litre triple, ride and steering are a step forward for the brand. The good value Citroën is brimming with feelgood factor, and it’s my Car of the Year.’

Volkswagen’s strong record in Car of the Year

But that’s one person’s opinion: 57 other voters ensured the Volkswagen won by a comfortable margin. The Passat’s victory means Volkswagen’s three core current models, the Polo in 2010 and the Golf in 2013, have all won Car of the Year.

The award has a long heritage: it dates back to 1964, when the Rover 2000 scooped the first win. ‘It’s the most prestigious award in the automotive industry,’ said CotY president Hakan Matson. ‘Our voting is totally transparent: all the points and the jurors’ verdicts are published on our website.’

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CES 2015: Trying to Crash a BMW? Think Again!

High above the Las Vegas Strip, BMW’s CES setup looks innocent enough: a pair of small i3s and a smattering of various other BMW models parked off in the distance of a parking garage rooftop. In reality, the company was about to freak me out.

First, I got a glimpse of a collision avoidance system using an array of fairly well-concealed external sensors on one of the i3s. BMW set up a bunch of big, soft blocks dressed to look like walls and other hazards — it was a little Super Mario-esque, come to think of it — and told me to punch the gas in their direction.

That’s a tough command to process, and it took me a second to work up the courage. Tentatively, I approached the first couple of blocks in the car; I got so close that I was sure I’d touch them, but at the last moment, I heard a soft “beep” and felt a moderate application of the brakes that stopped me with probably no more than an inch to spare (BMW is quick to note that the sensors they’re using are next-gen and very accurate — these aren’t the ultrasonic parking sensors you see on today’s bumpers).

The system works in reverse, too, and on the sides — I tried turning too sharply at a corner in such a way that a normal car would’ve taken a huge, expensive gash across the doors. This i3, though, with its enhanced instincts of self-preservation, slowed to a halt before it could take any damage. The system is designed to still permit you to park in a tight spot without getting in the way; I tried parallel parking with no issue.

Next, I tried the company’s automatic valet system in another i3, which uses basically the same set of high-definition sensors to map the environment around the car. We’ve seen a variety of self-parking systems from automakers at CES over the years, but this one seemed to be the most polished: it doesn’t require any special equipment or beacons in the parking garage, it’ll just autonomously find a spot to park without anyone in the vehicle. It’s initiated using an app that BMW has designed for Samsung’s Gear S smartwatch, where you can see the status of your car (charge level, for instance) and tap a command to go park. Slowly — like, really slowly, 5 mph or so — the i3 lurched forward on its own, seeking out an open space. It rounded a corner where the other BMWs were parked, found a slot next to an M4 convertible, and eased its way in.

The app can summon the car, too. I rode alone in the passenger seat for this leg of the journey, which was really eerie — there are no words to describe the feeling of sitting by yourself in a car that’s slowly moving and turning on its own. You can tell it’s designed to be super careful: it moves no faster than brisk walking pace and has the same anti-collision sensors I’d just experienced in another heart-pounding demo. Still, you’re at the mercy of a computer, which is hard to get over.

I returned to the anti-collision demo one last time, where BMW staff encouraged me to be way more aggressive. So I was: I drove the i3 like I’d stolen it, but I couldn’t get it to hit anything no matter how hard I tried. Any steering angle, any gas pedal input, the car just didn’t care. It’s an additional margin of safety that I’m guessing will eliminate a lot of expensive fender benders in a few years.

Both of these systems are basically branches of the same R&D effort happening inside the company — autonomous driving, which BMW still believes is a few years away. The sensors required for this level of accuracy still need to get smaller and easier to integrate into the car’s bodywork. It’s encouraging, though: if a car is tuned into its environment well enough to consistently stop a driver from bumping into things, it can probably stop itself when there’s no one in the driver’s seat.

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Spotted! This is the facelifted 2016 BMW 6-Series. Can you spot the updates?

The current-generation BMW 6-Series was all-new for the 2012 model year, so we’ll soon see the vehicle undergo its mid-cycle update. Today, we have the first spy shots of prototypes for the updated 6-Series coupe, which we expect to be revealed early next year, as a 2016 model.

Being a mid-cycle update, the changes to the car are minimal. However, we should see the changes appear across the 6-Series range, which means we should be seeing prototypes for updated versions of the 6-Series Convertible, 6-Series Gran Coupe and M6 models, too.

The camouflage gear on the prototypes suggests we’ll see new bumpers, new fender vents and revised lights. Changes are expected in the cabin as well, with the updated 6-Series likely to adopt BMW’s touchpad interface already found on some of the automaker’s vehicles.

It’s not clear yet what changes will occur under the hood, but it’s likely the current powertrain lineup will carry over with only minor tweaks. It’s also likely we’ll see some new electronic driver aids added to the car.

Stay tuned for updates as development progresses.

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Tops This Weekend Box Office!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opened to No. 1 in 17 out of its 19 markets this weekend — including in big market bows of Mexico and Russia — to take in $28.7M on 2,771 half shells. In Mexico, it grossed $6.9M from 653 locales, which bested last weekend’s opening of Guardians of the Galaxy which took in $6.5M. In Russian, it opened to $11.1M or 13% ahead of Dawn of the Planet of the Apesand nearly doubling the No. 2 pic in the marketplace — Guardians of the Galaxy in its second weekend out of the gate. Paramount can also boast that its Transformers: Age of Extinction has become the 9th highest-grossing film of all time with a total to date of $789.3M after pulling in another $17.4M in 58 territories. (It’s in 5,229 location).

And what about Guardians? It’s has now grossed over $313M worldwide since bowing last weekend, bouyed by an estimated take of around $176M after this weekend domestically. It took in $40.1M this weekend in over 50 markets but has yet to bow in some big territories, namely China, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. So it’s still rockin’ and rollin’ around the globe with Russia and the UK becoming its strongest territories so far with $23.9M and $22.8M, respectively. In Russia, it has already run over Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the firstCaptain, Thor 1 and Iron Man (the first one) — no small feat. And in Australia it bowed to No. 1 to bring in $6M and, so with previews has culled together a strong $8.2M. It’ll open in France and Spain next weekend and won’t hit China until Oct. 10.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (from DreamWorks/Participant Media) opened in India and we are awaiting word on that from Reliance Media as they are handling international on it.

Step Up All In, currently playing in 37 markets, bowed in Germany this weekend and was the only major territory to debut day and date with the U.S. The dance film, which is the fifth film in the popular international franchise, is handled in the U.S. by Lionsgate now and overseas by LGF’s Summit. It has so far made $37.7M after adding another $6.4M this weekend. In Germany, it debuted to $2.6M on 430 screens for a strong $6,046 per screen in this territory. Overall, its strongest territory has been France where it has tallied a total of $6.7M to date.

Meanwhile, Lucy – which crossed the $100 million mark worldwide with an estimated $97.4M take in the states and $15M from 15 market around the globe. The ww cume is $112.4M after three weeks in release with 44 territories yet to go as it continues its international run through next month. Besson’s EuropaCorpis handling the film in France where it experienced the best opening day ever for director Luc Besson.

Germany’s Captain Philipp Lahm retires from International Football

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has retired from international football after leading his side to victory at the World Cup in Brazil.
The 30-year-old Bayern Munich defender, who can also play in midfield, played 113 times for Germany.

His retirement from the national side was confirmed by the German FA (DFB).
“I am happy and grateful that the end of my career with the national team coincides with winning the World Cup in Brazil,” he said in an open letter on the DFB website.

Lahm’s international career started in February 2004 with a 2-1 defeat of Croatia and ended with the 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.
DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach said: “Philipp called me this morning and personally informed me of this step. I very quickly realised that it was pointless trying to persuade him to reconsider his decision.
“He was not just a superb player for 10 years in the national team, but also a complete role model. I thanked him for everything that he’s done for the DFB.”
Lahm now plans to focus on the club side that he joined aged 11 and has been captain of since 2011.
“There is hardly a better farewell than to be a world champion at the peak of your career,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
“But for the national team, it will not be easy to replace Lahm as a player, captain and a man.”