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BMW Will Provide 4,000 Cars for 2012 London Olympics

Any oportunity to showcase their products is good enough for carmakers these days, even if it has nothing to do with the industry per say. Lexus recently chose a royal wedding, while General Motors has the Transformers movie franchise for this task.

BMW has chosen to highlight its innovative i8 electric sportscar in the upcoming Mission Impossible movie, but until that hits the silver screen, the Bavarians want to get a bit of TV coverage by being associated with the world’s top athletes.

As a result, the company will reportedly provide a staggering 4,000 cars (which amounts to what it wold sell in a medium market on a good month) for the upcoming London Olympic Games, which will begin in about a year’s time.

Among those vehicles will be a total of 200 electric vehicles, though the new i3 will not be one of the as was previously expected. Replacing the new BMW electric vehicle will be the electric versions of the MINI Cooper and 1-Series Coupe, chauffeuring top athletes in zero-emissions comfort. Both were developed and tested by members of the public to provide information on the feasibility of electric transportation, so they should be good enough for the job.

By the time the Olympic Games get underway, the 2013 3-Series will have been launched, and will be on hand in substantial numbers. The new 320d EfficientDynamics model, in particular, will be used to ferry around athletes, officials, media and other staff. Other BMW models expected to be enlisted include the upcoming Activehybrid 5, as well as the company’s famous motorcycles, scooters and even bicycles. Unfortunately, the i3 and i8 will be the big absentees, though we can expect to see at least one of them later in the year.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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