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MINI History MINI Cars MINI Concepts Specials MINI Plant in Oxford, UK
The new MINI is being manufactured on one of the world's most modern and advanced production systems at the BMW Group plant at Oxford - the result of a £230 million investment programme at the factory. MINI Stars in "The Italian Job" MINI, the 2003 North American Car of the Year, will join a stellar cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland, in Paramount Pictures’ film, “The Italian Job,” opening nationwide May 30th.
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1998 - 2007 Copyright & |
MINI Cars
Alec Issigonis :“I did not invent the Mini, I designed it” In 1955 BMC took Issigonis back on board as the Deputy Technical Director of the Austin Plant in Longbridge with the job to develop three new model series for the small, midrange and luxury performance segments intended to secure the future of what was then Europe’s largest carmaker.
Through his challenging and authoritarian style, Issigonis succeeded in withstanding the pressure resting on the development of the new small car as of 1956 as a result of the Suez crisis. So very quickly he drove his team to top performance, without making the slightest compromise on the car and his mission as such. And despite this pressure, his staff not only respected him, but in many cases developed a lifelong friendship with Alec Issigonis as their role model. The result of this concerted effort was the classic Mini, making its debut in 1959 and followed three years later by the four-door midrange Morris 1100 and in 1964 by the large and spacious Austin 1800.
The New (BMW) MINI introduced in 2000 The unveiling of the British-built MINI COOPER took place at the Paris Motor Show on Thursday 28 September 2000.
"The MINI COOPER is not a retro design car, but an evolution of the original," said Frank Stephenson, chief designer of the MINI. "It has the genes and many of the characteristics of its predecessor, but is larger, more powerful, more muscular and more exciting than its predecessor." Second MINI generation continues success story The second generation of the MINI has been available on the markets since November 2006 in the form of the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S versions and is already setting new trends. As a result of measures aimed at increasing the MINI production capacity and preparations for the launch of the second generation of the MINI, availability of MINI cars was restricted over the course of the year. On a full year basis, the sales volume of the MINI brand therefore dropped by 6.2 %, reaching 188,077 units. The MINI brand continues to generate a very high-value product mix. Including the convertible versions, almost 44% of customers opted for a MINI Cooper, more than 30% purchased the MINI model with the most powerful engine (the MINI Cooper S) and almost 26% opted for the MINI One. Source: BMW Annual Report 2006 |
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