Aug 19th, 2009
Official Release: BMW of North America and the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) today announced their partnership on a year-long field study to determine the viability of electric vehicles. MINI E customers, based primarily in Los Angeles with a few in the New York City-area, will participate in the study.
Marking the first comprehensive study of its kind since the mid-1990’s, the UC Davis- led research will focus on user interactions with the MINI E, and is expected to yield valuable insights into real-life usage and perceptions about electric vehicles. The study will gather in-depth information from 50 voluntary participants, a subset of the 450 MINI E customers in the U.S., through online travel diaries, written questionnaires and a series of interviews conducted throughout the one-year study. continued →
Aug 18th, 2009
To help ease the complexity of dealing with roadside assistance MINI USA is releasing a smartphone application this Thursday. With the roadside assistance program being free (and a great selling point for the car) MINI USA is looking to leverage the application to help get word out and make life easier should make the process easier.
Here’s how it works:
The App will allow you to set up a profile via registering your VIN on the Application. This profile will store your VIN, Model & Model Year. You can also upload a picture of your MINI, give it a nickname & select the color MINI that you have.
You can select a service such as; jump start, tire change, fuel, lock out assistance, tow for mechanical reason, or accident.
Once you’ve selected a service you can hit the call button and you will be connected with Roadside.
The App will then push all of the above data to the roadside rep on the other end of the phone as well as (with your permission by selecting “allow current locationâ€) the latitude and longitude of your current location. continued →
Aug 17th, 2009
While MINI USA hasn’t released anything official yet, we are starting to hear of some info about 2010 options. So let’s talk details.
- As we broke a few months back, MINI will be bring to market an entirely new upgraded stereo created by Harman (the maker of all premium MINI stereos since 2001). The new system is to be branded Harmon/Kardon and should make its way into production builds by December.
- The always important multi-function steering wheel will be standard on the MCS starting in 2010
- The Camden and Mayfair models will be coming to the US as special edition models and not as standalone packages as was once thought. So that means unlike the special editions models released in 2006, you won’t be able to order any of the unique trim or exterior colors found on the models.
- After almost eight years Dark Silver will finally become available on the Cooper in the US.
- As previously announced on MF, Interchange yellow will go from a unique Convertible color to a available across the model range effectively replacing Mellow yellow. A shame in our eyes.
Look for other surprises around the 2010 model year in the coming weeks. And remember, for all those considering ordering over the next year, the life-cycle refresh is right around the corner in 2010. We’ll have more on that and the 2010 model year changes in the days ahead.
Thanks everyone for sending this in.
Aug 14th, 2009
Over the next few years MINI will focus on performance. The speedster and the coupe will lead the way with light body shells and some unique performance options. However MINI will look to extend this new drive towards performance vehicles with one if not two new models of the Countryman crossover vehicle.
As we’ve reported Countryman crossover vehicle will be launched initially in Cooper and Cooper S. Up to two different diesel models will follow shortly afterwards. Then sources are telling us that the Countryman will get a JCW model with the current JCW powerplant. continued →
Aug 14th, 2009
Official Release: Two months into its pioneering field trials of electric-powered automobiles, MINI USA is gathering valuable, real-world data from 450 drivers of MINI E electric-powered vehicles.
These vehicles are now in daily use in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, where they are being driven by private customers, municipalities, universities, public utilities, non-profit and commercial organizations. continued →
Aug 13th, 2009
As we’ve reported throughout the summer, MINI will publicly debut the R60 Crossover at the IAA Frankfurt Motorshow this September. In addition to this MINI plans to surprise the press and the public by debuting the speedster concept at the show as well. The speedster will foreshadow the Broadspeed coupe (currently only an internal name) but don’t look for the coupe to make an appearance until next year.
Next up we expect both the Speedster and the R60 to then cross the Atlantic and make an appearance at the LA Autoshow in early November. However don’t be entirely surprised to see a slightly reworked Speedster for the LA Show similar to how MINI created different versions of the Traveller concept in 2006.
Up next is Detroit. While the show may be smaller than it once was, that won’t stop MINI from debuting a variation of the R60 platform. Based on several sources we believe that a Moke concept may make it’s debut at the show. The concept could foreshadow an eventual production version similar to how the 2006 Traveller concept foreshadowed both the Clubman and Countryman.
Finally MINI will be rolling out the R55/R56/R57 lifecycle refresh at the Geneva Motorshow in early March with details slipping out in mid-February.
As always we’ll be covering everything as it happens.
Aug 11th, 2009
To survive MINI needs more models. It’s clear that this is BMW’s philosophy. More models off of existing platforms allow for greater cost efficiency and help MINI target new customer segments. Last week we reported in detail about MINI’s overall strategic plans and talked about plans to bring up to six new models to production over the next 5-6 years. However there was one we didn’t talk about.
We know that MINI will be building a speedster off of the R56 platform in a couple of years and then shortly after that we’ll be getting the 3rd generation MINI. Yet MINI isn’t quite satisfied with that expansion plan. They need something that allows them to reach a broader segment specifically in countries like the US. continued →
