As MINI bombards the market with new launches we’re being encouraged to think for ourselves. It’s not enough to buy a new model. We can now choose from a choice of MINI parts to make our cars as unique as were are.
Thanks to the new MINI website you can navigate around a fun interactive application that allows you to tailor the look of your new car both inside and out. On the roof you can have a choice of lettering, stripes, a chequered flag and the good old Union Jack.
It seems that not a day goes by without a new MINI model being announced. From the Beachcomber to the Roadster, it seems new MINI’s are everywhere, but the new 4×4 crossover the Countryman certainly took us by surprise.
Sitting a fair bit higher than many would expect from a MINI and for the first time boasting five doors, the new Countryman is certainly a different design from the trusty MINI we all know and love and swears blind that it offers a genuine carrying capacity of four adults, but it’s still the good old MINI at heart.
The new MINI Beachcomber is set to be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show next month. This Moke-inspired number has certainly divided the MINI community like few other developments have, but it seems that all questions will be answered when it finally rolls out.
MINI aficionados are notoriously difficult to please when it comes to alterations to the classic design and the Beachcomber is the biggest modification in recent memory. With both soft and hard top options due to be made available, this new MINI will be suitable even if it’s not beach weather which, let’s be honest, it rarely is here in the UK.
BMW and Mini are on a collision course after it was announced that the German manufacturer are looking to introduce a new series called the 0-Series. As it suggests the new mini car will be designed to be smaller than the current 1-Series which means that it is likely that it will go into direct competition with the current Mini, which strangely is also owner by BMW.
It really does seem that the company is almost shooting itself in the foot with this latest move, admittedly having two cars competing in the market should mean that the company will grab large shares of the market, however it could of course backfire and the companies could end up taking sales off of each other.
2009 is a celebratory year for MINI having recently commemorated its 50th birthday, and now they are set to enter new territories – the world of the coupe.
BMW has released images of the MINI Coupe Concept that is set to be exhibited at the Frankfurt Motor Show in mid September and this reincarnation of the classic hot hatch looks set to steal the show.
This most iconic of hot hatches will now enter the sports coupe market for the first time in its 50 year history and judging by the images, MINI fever is likely to spread once again, not only through the UK and Europe, but also across the Atlantic and beyond.
The MINI John Cooper Works Cabrio will join the Australian line-up next month. The new and exciting drop-top isn’t just the newest member to the John Coper Works range, but also is it’s fastest convertible yet. The turbocharged convertible is the third car in the John Cooper Works line-up and, being the quickest accelerating convertible in the sub-$100,000 range, it surely is a very fast MINI.
The John Cooper Works Cabrio (first unveiled at this years Geneva Motor Show), claims to be able to hit 100km/h in 6.9 seconds – wow!
Since 2001, Mini has of course changed a lot. Although the pre 2001 Mini has the same name and some of the same details, they are both very different cars. It is much more difficult to spot the differences between the early new Mini, and the Mini that is on sale today. The overall look has been maintained, but much of the bodywork, the engine and the headlamps have been altered.
Those crazy cats at Top Gear are planning to shoot a re-enactment of the Italian Job (the original, not the hammy US remake) but not in Italy; the three mid-lifes plan to drive MINI’s through sewers in Belfast.
They will drive the MINI Coopers through the City’s new 6 mile sewage works and like the original film, this will be the second time this scene will have been shot in the UK., as although the opening and ending sequence of the car chase was shot in Turin, the actual scene where the Mini’s speed through the sewer tunnel was shot in Coventry.
The new MINI First has many an incentive for those on the lookout for a new comfortable, stylish, eco-friendly and economical drive.
Not only will you be getting an efficient and quality assured piece of German engineering, but the MINI First is also set to be the least depreciating vehicle in its class.
BMW expect the MINI First to still be worth 50 per cent of its £10,950 price tag after three years or 30,000 miles: unheard of!
Eco friendly motoring is becoming increasingly vital for our collective carbon footprint and more and more manufacturers are investing in research and development to envelope the best green technology into all types of vehicles.
BMW have won two Green awards in the last 12 months and look set to pick up more in the coming months with the release of the new MINI One D.
With a 90hp engine with 6mg fuel economy, this low end commuter car is a must for those that want a low CO2 emitting little hatchback with high fuel economy.
BMW are set to launch a budget MINI, named the MINI First, that will start from just £10,950 on the road.
Boasting a hugely economical 75 BHP 1.4 litre engine offering fuel consumption of 53.3 miles per gallon, the MINI First is most certainly aimed at first time buyers and those requiring an economical commuter car.
The MINI First may not be that nippy off the mark – 0-62MPH in a painfully slow 13.2 seconds – but with a top speed of 109MPH and the responsive handling and coolness of all other MINI models, this new hatch will sell like hot cakes.
The British icon, the Mini is of course celebrating its 50th anniversary this year but has also recently passed a noteworthy milestone.
BMW’s MINI plant in Oxford has now built more than 1.5 million units of their award winning hot hatch since 2001.
The 1.5 millionth MINI was a MINI Clubman, red of course, was seen heading off the production line by Business Minister Ian Lucas and BMW Group board member Ian Robertson.
Having been acquired by BMW Group, the MINI has been hugely popular worldwide, thanks to the design, ergonomics and engineering excellence of Bavarian Motor Works.
The Mini E, an electric powered version of the iconic car, is being trialled in the US by 450 people in New York, New Jersey and California as BMW look for detailed feedback to see how they can get an electric powered car on the market by 2012.
BMW have invested heavily into lowering CO2 emissions in the last few years but they hope that the Mini E will eliminate them altogether if it becomes a viable consumer option.
BMW are targeting the US market in a big way by opening 17 more MINI dealerships across America during the next 18 months.
This is just an example of how dominant the iconic hot hatch has become since its reincarnation by BMW in 2001.
The MINI has since been a big success in the US and the inclusion of these 17 new dealerships will take the total US Mini dealerships to 100.
The popularity of the MINI across the Pond has been even higher than BMW had ever imagined and the German car giants aim to better last year’s sales total of just over 54,000 units even though the US is experiencing economic difficulties.
The MINI Cooper S has been named What Car? 2009 Green Car of the Year in the sports car category.
The iconic hot hatch held onto its crown having received the same award in 2008 thanks to BMW’s EfficientDynamics technology.
In keeping against the need to broadcast through each and every medium about green initiatives, BMW have gone about their eco friendly business almost under the radar.
