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Despite the departure of controversial lead designer Chris Bangle, BMW is showing no signs of returning to the “One sausage, three-sizes” styling brief that it once adhered to. The latest proof of this is the announcement of the production 5 Series Gran Turismo, which, as expected, looks little changed from the concept that set tongues wagging in Geneva, save for a few details like smaller wheels, more conventional interior fabrics and real-world-sized side mirrors.

The genre-blurring BMW 5 Series GT is, in the words of BMW, meant to combine “the characteristic features of a prestige saloon, a modern, highly versatile Sports Activity Vehicle, and a classic Gran Turismo” – outwardly, at least, we’d say that they’ve succeeded in meeting that goal, although the final judgment on whether this amalgam of characteristics is a even a direction worth pursuing will ultimately be made by consumers.

In the meantime, we can focus not only on the five-door hatchback’s design, but also its internals, as BMW has released specifications and pricing for its European market models.

As GM’s June 1 deadline winds down, the struggling automaker borrowed another $4 billion from the U.S. Treasury and won a cost-cutting deal from the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and United Auto Workers (UAW). However, GM still faces a huge showdown with bondholders, which will most likely drive the automaker towards bankruptcy at the end of the month.

With the new $4 billion borrowed yesterday, the Obama administration has loaned GM a total of $19.4 billion to stay afloat. GM said that it expects that number to rise to $27 billion after June 1.

President Barack Obama said in an interview released today that he is very “confident” that GM would survive after restructuring. Obama did not mention whether GM would be filing for bankruptcy to complete it’s restructuring.

“Ultimately, I think that GM is going to be a strong company and we are going to be pulling out as soon as the economy recovers and they’ve completed their restructuring,” Obama said.

He said that he wanted the government to get out of the auto business as soon as possible.

Source: Reuters