The group, which consists of the BMW passenger-car and motorcycle brands, as well as the Rolls-Royce and Mini brands, sold 159,365 units in Asia last year, up 12.16 per cent from 142,084 in 2006. In Thailand, BMW sales plunged 41 per cent to only 1,821 units last year.

The company is expecting continued sales growth in the region and has targeted sales of 200,000 units by 2012, said Stefan Krause, head of sales and marketing at BMW.

"We expect BMW Group sales to continue its successful course in 2008, both in Asia and worldwide. Provided that the Asian continent continues its positive economic development, we plan to sell 200,000 vehicles here by 2012," he told Asian journalists at a Tokyo press conference.

"We have achieved our medium-term goal for this region one year ahead of schedule, which is selling more than 150,000 vehicles by 2008.

Mickey Kaus

Is the Bush administration's Kabuki appease-the-right pre-semi-amnesty show of force on the border already ending? The National Guard's border deployment

The administraiton's natural reaction to the success of this deployment is, of course, to ... reduce the deployment! 'It was working, so we stopped it!'... There are several possible explanations for this seemingly perverse, risky move: 1) The guardsmen are needed in Iraq and Afghanistan; 2) The Bushies cynically think conservatives won't notice and will stay appeased while Congress passes "comprehensive" reform; 3) The Bushies think they don't need conservatives to pass "comprehensive" reform; 4) The Bushies have given up on "comprehensive" reform; 5) It was working, so they stopped it.

Manning happy with not being The Man

LAWRENCE — When Danny Manning walks into Free State High School's gymnasium, where his daughter, Taylor, plays basketball, he walks straight to the top.

Computer-Aided Detection in Screening Mammography Enhances Performance ...

BEDFORD, Mass., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) , a diversified medical technologies company specializing in imaging systems, diagnostics, and interventional devices dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, today announced the publication of a large scale breast screening trial comparing a single radiologist using computer- aided detection (CAD) to double reading without CAD. The author of the study is Dr. Matthew Gromet of the Breast Imaging Section of Charlotte Radiology, a large imaging practice (approximately 66,000 screening mammograms a year) in Charlotte, North Carolina. The study(1), published in the on-line version of the American Journal of Roentgenology, the scientific journal of the American Roentgen Ray Society, will appear in the April 2008 issue of the research journal.

Unstoppable Obama

The dollar is sinking. A growing proportion of Americans have no access to health care; an estimated 18,000 die every year for lack of health insurance. Now, as the economy staggers into recession, the financial analysts are wondering only whether the rest of the world is sufficiently "de-coupled" from the US economy to survive our demise.

Clinton can put forth all the policy proposals she likes–and many of them are admirable ones–but anyone can see that she's of the same generation and even one of the same families that got us into this checkmate situation in the first place. True, some people miss Bill, although the nostalgia was severely undercut by his anti-Obama rhetoric in South Carolina, or maybe they just miss the Internet bubble he happened to preside over.

Rooney seeks Munich tribute

Wayne Rooney feels winning the UEFA Champions League would be the 'best possible way' for Manchester United to honour the victims of the Munich disaster.

"It was fascinating to hear Sir Bobby speak about the disaster and hear his story of what happened," said Rooney in the Daily Mirror.

We go behind the scenes for a look at filmmaker Robin Cowie's family ...

We wanted a unique house, one that felt different when you walk in. It so reflects our tastes and interests."

Cowie was a teenager when his family moved from South Africa to the United States. Since graduating from the University of Central Florida's film school in 1993, he has worked on a variety of film and TV projects, including for Nickelodeon and the Golf Channel. He also launched Worldwide Brands, a company that finds products for people to sell on the Internet, and co-authored the primer eBay Performance!

He and Sarah met on the set of It's Relative, the film he directed for his senior thesis. "She was my leading lady," says Cowie. "It's a clich�, but that's how it happened."

Sarah has since switched from acting to helping run her husband's businesses.

Betting Update; Buick Invitational with the bookmakers making Tiger ...

A Tiger will be the main attraction in San Diego this week but it wont be one from the famous City Zoo. This one will be prowling the fairways and greens of the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Yes Mr Woods is back in town in search of his fourth successive Buick Invitational. However, his arch-rival Phil Mickelson may miss out on trying to win the title for the third time as he is reportedly suffering from respiratory problems. Nevertheless, the field is still a strong one with 11 of the worlds top-25 players taking part at the venue for this years US Open. So there could be some interesting pointers with that event in mind, especially as there are some players taking part this week who dont normally stop off in San Diego.

Not so lucky Jim

Jim Furyk for instance has missed the cut in the Buick Invitational on his two previous starts, while Mike Weir has only played in the event once before, although he did do well when finishing fifth in 2001.