Formula One driver to launch new BMW 6 Series

Thursday, 12 February 2004, 4:33 pm
Press Release: BMW

Media release
February 12, 2004

The much-anticipated new BMW 6 Series Coupé will be unveiled in New Zealand by Formula One motor racing star Ralf Schumacher on 1 March.

Schumacher, who drives for the BMW Williams Formula One team, will launch the new car during a brief stopover in Auckland en route to Melbourne for the first Grand Prix of the 2004 season.

The Managing Director of BMW Group New Zealand, Geoff Fletcher, said the release of the new 6 Series 14 years after the last model shook the motoring world is exciting and to have one of the world’s most recognisable sporting figures in New Zealand to launch it is doubly exciting for the company.

“The 6 Series has been lauded internationally as BMW’s ultimate coupé and represents the very latest in design innovation and automotive technology,” said Mr Fletcher.

The powerful new 645 Ci features a 245 kW V8 engine and six speed automatic transmission and is priced at NZ$207,900.

Visits to New Zealand by current Formula One drivers are rare and mostly occur around the time of the Australian Grand Prix. In the past decade only Mika Hakkinen (2000) and Heinz-Harald Frentzen (1997) have crossed the Tasman. Ralf Schumacher is the only driver who has visited the country immediately before the race itself.

While in New Zealand Schumacher will spend the day fulfilling some limited media engagements and be the guest of honour at an exclusive private luncheon attended by BMW dealers and key customers, including those awaiting delivery of their new 6 Series.

At the luncheon there will be an auction of signed memorabilia, with proceeds going to BMW's partner charity Cure Kids. Following the luncheon Schumacher will be flown straight to Melbourne to prepare for the Grand Prix.

Last year Schumacher won two rounds outright and finished fifth overall in the World Championship. 2004 sees him in a new car with the latest BMW engine and Schumacher says he is determined to build on his late-season pace to challenge for the title.

The BMW Williams Formula One Team was one of the first to launch its 2004 car and has taken a bold step forward in design, aiming to match the excellent performance of the car’s V10 engine with race-winning aerodynamics.

Schumacher’s recent testing times in the new BMW Williams suggest he will be very competitive as he attempts to be the one to wrest the World Championship title from his brother, Michael.

-End-

Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH > >

Sky City : Auckland Convention Centre Cost Jumps By A Fifth

SkyCity Entertainment Group, the casino and hotel operator, is in talks with the government on how to fund the increased cost of as much as $130 million to build an international convention centre in downtown Auckland, with further gambling concessions ruled out. The Auckland-based company has increased its estimate to build the centre to between $470 million and $530 million as the construction boom across the country drives up building costs and design changes add to the bill.
More>>

ALSO:

RMTU: Mediation Between Lyttelton Port And Union Fails

The Rail and Maritime Union (RMTU) has opted to continue its overtime ban indefinitely after mediation with the Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) failed to progress collective bargaining. More>>

Earlier:

Rail And Maritime Transport Union - Lyttelton Port workers begin overtime ban
Lyttelton Port of Christchurch - LPC operations will continue as usual during overtime ban
Environment Canterbury - Next phase of Lyttelton Port recovery underway

Science Policy: Callaghan, NSC Funding Knocked In Submissions

Callaghan Innovation, which was last year allocated a budget of $566 million over four years to dish out research and development grants, and the National Science Challenges attracted criticism in submissions on the government’s draft national statement of science investment, with science funding largely seen as too fragmented. More>>

ALSO:

NZ Govt - Submissions on future of science system
Science Media Centre - Year in Review: the big science stories of 2014

Scoop Business: Spark, Voda And Telstra To Lay New Trans-Tasman Cable

Spark New Zealand and Vodafone, New Zealand’s two dominant telecommunications providers, in partnership with Australian provider Telstra, will spend US$70 million building a trans-Tasman submarine cable to bolster broadband traffic between the neighbouring countries and the rest of the world. More>>

ALSO:

Spark NZ - New trans-Tasman telecommunications cable plan confirmed
InternetNZ - New cable a positive sign for the future

Scoop Business - ComCom pushes out final decision on Chorus copper pricing
Commerce Commission - Backdating prices for Chorus’ copper lines and broadband
TUANZ - TUANZ welcomes further clarification by Commerce Commission
Spark NZ - Spark New Zealand Moving Ahead in 4g Network Build

Statistics: Current Account Deficit Widens

New Zealand's annual current account deficit was $6.1 billion (2.6 percent of GDP) for the year ended September 2014. This compares with a deficit of $5.8 billion (2.5 percent of GDP) for the year ended June 2014. More>>

ALSO:

Scoop Business - NZ Sept quarter current account deficit near six-year high

Still In The Red: NZ Govt Shunts Out Surplus To 2016

The New Zealand government has pushed out its targeted return to surplus for a year as falling dairy prices and a low inflation environment has kept a lid on its rising tax take, but is still dangling a possible tax cut in 2017, the next election year and promising to try and achieve the surplus pledge on which it campaigned for election in September. More>>

ALSO:

BusinessDesk - Economy can grow faster than thought before inflation bites
Audio - Treasury Forecast Announcement for 2015
NZ Treasury - Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2014
Office of the Clerk - Public Submissions - Budget Policy Statement 2015
NZ Govt - Government focused on surplus in 2014/15 - English: National is focussed on achieving surplus
Labour - Bill English’s face is redder than his books - Failure to diversify puts prosperity at risk
United Future - Dunne Speaks - Christmas Edition
Greens - Irresponsible tax cuts lead to seventh successive deficit
NZ First - Dishonesty Only Thing in Surplus in Forecasts
CTU - Cuts in public services likely from Budget Policy Statement
PricewaterhouseCoopers - New Zealand Government signals reversal of fortune
NZ Taxpayers' Union - Cut Taxes + Cut Waste = Surplus
TV3 Video - Don't blame deficit on tax cuts - English
Earlier - Cuts to Health Suggested

Job Insecurity: Time For Jobs That Count In The Meat Industry

“Meat Workers face it all”, says Graham Cooke, Meat Workers Union National Secretary. “Seasonal work, dangerous jobs, casual and zero hours contracts, and increasing pressure on workers to join non-union individual agreements. More>>