Whenever we think about big corporations, we think about soulless money grabbing monsters without a face who would stop at nothing to get their way. That is not necessarily the case with all big companies, and BMW proved to be a bit kinder to the people.

In light of the recent events in more than one country, the German car maker stepped in to help the ones in need. I am referring to the massive floods affecting several European nations, and Germany is no exception. BMW took the initiative and deployed its fire department to the areas surrounding the company’s plants.

The excess water will be drained thanks to the special trucks BMW provided in the towns of Regensburg, Munich, Dingolfing and Landshut. Going one step further, BMW is even offering 1.5 million EUR as relief for the victims of the recent floods. And while this will also benefit the car maker in the long run, as such good publicity will surely work in their favour, we like to think this was a completely selfless act from BMW.

Tata Motors Group global wholesales at 81,783 in May 2013

Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 31,210 vehicles. Jaguar wholesales for the month were 7,061 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 12,395 vehicles, while Land Rover wholesales for the month were 24,149 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 47,689 vehicles. Cumulative wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover for the fiscal were 60,084 vehicles.

GM goes dark on output stats, causes stir

General Motors’ decision to stop publicly disclosing monthly production numbers has touched off concern among industry analysts and economists, as well as suppliers that rely on the data for their production plans.

Spain’s CIE and India’s Mahindra agree on deal to create major supplier

Spain’s CIE Automotive will buy a majority stake in the combined auto component unit of India’s Mahindra Group to create a new company that will become one of the top 25 25 global suppliers, with annual sales of $3 billion and operations from North America to Asia.

VW Group sales up 7% in May on China, U.S. demand

VW says global group sales rose 7 percent to 816,500 in May as strong demand in China and the United States continued to help offset weaker deliveries in European markets

Tech edge, global reach help European suppliers, CLEPA boss says

Europe is in a deep slump but the head of the region’s suppliers group says many partsmakers are growing their businesses because of their global footprints.

Batteries pose tough transport challenges

The fragility — and dangers — of lithium ion batteries for electric cars came up again at our recent Congress in Paris when DHL’s head of automotive logistics pointed out the difficulties of transporting them.

BMW’s electric car was caught once again on the streets of Germany, this time in a short video. The revolutionary and highly anticipated city car has still to lose any more camouflage, even with the launch drawing closer.

The BMW i3 promises to be a quite a game changer on the electrical vehicle market. It uses a lightweight carbon fiber chassis, showcasing the fact that lightweight materials are finally getting to a point where it is feasible to be used widely on manufacturing vehicles.

BMW’s i3 electric city car has been spotted several times now, both in Germany and abroad, and since the roof was revealed a while back, the car maker has not taken down anymore of the camouflage. With price for the vehicles approximated at 40.000 USD, we should not expect to see many units on the road once it launches. Still, people expect the BMW i3 to be a real game changer, starting a revolution and the downfall of the traditional vehicle.

BMW tops Mercedes in quarterly U.S. vehicle registrations, Polk says

BMW is trailing Mercedes-Benz in luxury vehicle sales so far this year in the United States, but it still exceeded its German counterpart in first-quarter new vehicle registrations

GM extends summer production shutdown at Russian plant as market cools

General Motors will extend the summer shutdown at its factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, as the country’s car market growth slows down. The Russian market is expected to decline by 5 percent in 2013

Ford pushes new models over rental sales in Europe revival

Ford is counting on new models such as the EcoSport small SUV to help reduce reliance on low-margin sales to rental-car companies in Europe in the battle to stem losses in the region.

Porsche-Piech family buys Qatar’s 10% stake in VW’s majority owner

The Porsche-Piech family bought Qatar Holding’s 10 percent stake in Porsche Automobil Holding SE to regain full control of the majority owner of Volkswagen Group.

Honda’s little radiation-proof robot does nuke duty

In the highly radioactive crucible of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, there are simply some areas too hot and hazardous for humans to venture for cleanup. Now, Honda is parlaying its expertise in robotics into a helping hand.

New subcompact to lead MG’s European expansion

MG Motor, owned by China’s SAIC Motor, will start production of the MG3 in England later this summer. The subcompact will lead MG Motor’s expansion into other European markets.

Volvo said to be poised to begin China output at Chengdu plant

Volvo will start building a stretched variant of the S60 at its first China manufacturing plant in Chengdu in the second half of this year, according to a Chinese media report

Toyota uses Twitter to show how Auris hybrid is made

Toyota will use Twitter to show how it builds the Auris hybrid at its UK factory. The company aims to reach new customers in what it says is a world-first social media project.

Daimler-BYD JV says big China dealer group may sell Denza EV brand

Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology, a 50-50 JV between Daimler and BYD, may sell its Denza-brand electric cars at Zhongsheng Group Holdings’ dealerships, the partnership said.

Rolls-Royce picks veteran BMW engineer to lead manufacturing

Rolls-Royce has named Frank Ludwig, 42, as its manufacturing director. The German national has been with Rolls’ parent, BMW Group, since 2002 and has held manufacturing jobs at the Mini and BMW brands.

GM: Labor costs must be cut to save Australia plants

GM’s Holden unit and its labor unions will begin talks to reduce costs enough to keep its Australian plants viable, a month after Ford said it will stop making cars locally

Range anxiety, hydrogen style

Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, the FCX Clarity, has been known to travel thousands of miles without refueling. But only while sitting on the back of a truck.

Dacia completes EU rollout with Denmark sales start

Dacia has started selling its Lodgy minivan in Denmark, the latest western European market for Renault’s no-frills brand that was originally created for developing markets. The expansion into Denmark marks the completion of Dacia’s rollout in the EU

Jaguar Land Rover targets 1 million sales in long term

Jaguar Land Rover is targeting global sales of 750,000 units by the end of the decade, with an eventual target of 1 million units, a top executive said Tuesday

Mercedes creates new sales-support unit for China

Mercedes-Benz has set up a new sales-support unit for China and is stepping up the pace of dealer openings in the country as it seeks to catch rival Audi, the best-selling premium brand in the market

GM tops benchmark quality study for the first time

GM for the first time ranked atop a closely watched survey measuring new-vehicle quality, while Ford continued to be dragged down by its electronic features. GM placed two brands — GMC and Chevrolet — in the top five of J.D. Power and Associates’ Initial Quality Study released today.

VW continues shake-up at Seat with appointment of new sales chief

Volkswagen continues an executive shake-up in Seat’s top management with the appointment of a new sales and marketing chief.

Mulally sees China becoming Ford export hub

Ford CEO Alan Mulally says “it’s just a matter of time” until Ford uses China as an export hub. He also said Japan is manipulating the yen and its market is more closed than China’s.

PSA proposes early-retirement plan in France to lower costs

PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is proposing an early-retirement plan for French workers to trim costs and return to profit. PSA has offered paid leave for as long as 18 months for workers retiring early, a union official said.

Volvo names company veteran as next finance chief

Volvo has picked company veteran Hans Oscarsson to be its new chief financial officer. He replaces his boss, Jan Gurander, who is stepping down

Audi replaces r&d chief Duerheimer with VW’s Hackenburg, report says

Audi has fired Wolfgang Duerheimer, its r&d head, and will replace him with VW brand research chief Ulrich Hackenberg, a German magazine said.

VW continues shake-up at Seat with appointment of new sales chief

Volkswagen continues an executive shake-up in Seat’s top management with the appointment of a new sales and marketing chief.

VW promotes Hackenberg to lead VW and Audi development

VW promoted Ulrich Hackenberg to head of technical development for all VW Group brands, including Audi where he replaces Wolfgang Duerheimer.

Chevrolet Europe boss Docherty steps down

Susan Docherty, who leads Chevrolet and Cadillac sales in Europe, is leaving GM after 27 years to chart a “new course” for her career and spend more time with her family.

Bosch forms battery JV with Mitsubishi, GS Yuasa

German industrial group Robert Bosch said it has agreed to work on automotive lithium ion battery development with Mitsubishi and Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa International.