Car Magazine is reporting that BMW will leverage the new MINI platform (itself based on the modular 1 Series platform) for a smaller BMW. The big news for BMW enthusiasts is that Car is reporting this new car will be front wheel drive – a first for BMW and something that goes against the core brand values up until now. The Untere Kompaktklasse (German for lower compact class) will slot between the MINI and the 1 Series and will be marketed with efficiency as it’s main attribute. Likely featuring BMW’s new range of 3 and 4 cylinder engines, the 0 Series will help the BMW Group meet new CO2 and MPG requirements both in the US and Europe. While BMW will be counting on MINI to help as well, the thought is that some customers would prefer a small premium product from the BMW brand. For these people the 0 Series will offer all the technology found in other small BMWs in a smaller more efficient package. According to sources driving dynamics will more closely mirror what we see in the current MINI range. continued →
Official Release: Global deliveries of the MINI brand climbed 9.5% to 24,759 units (prev. yr. 22,619) in the month under review. In particular, the new MINI Convertible (3,870 units / +232.2%) launched in late March and the MINI One, available in Hatch and Clubman versions (5,534 units / +60.4%), boosted sales of the premium compact car brand in September. A total of 161,638 MINI cars were delivered to customers in the year to the end of September (prev. yr. 184,915 / -12.6%).
Official Release: Today kicks off the 3rd annual Motor-Tober celebration, MINI’s made-up holiday that lasts the entire month of October.
Motor-Tober is about enjoying horsepower and go-kart handling, saving money with great deals and celebrating for the sake of celebrating. MINI’s October marketing campaign focuses on capturing autumn fun with witty ads and MINI gear, encouraging test drives and events at dealerships nationwide, aggressive financing on all 2009 models as well as special lease pricing on select 2009 inventory. continued →
BMW is mulling the idea of moving some MINI production to one of its German plants likely when MINI starts production of the new Coupe and Speedster models in 2012. While have publicly said that both of those cars will be built at the Oxford plant, it seems that BMW is now looking to shift production of either the R55, R56 or R57 to a BMW plant in Germany according to the Independent. Here’s an excerpt:
Cowley, the Oxford plant that is one of the UK’s biggest remaining car factories, cannot meet demand for all the new vehicles, including the new Coupe and the Roadster. It builds around 200,000 cars annually but the launch of the new Minis means the plant will soon exhaust capacity and a new production line will be needed.
Mini’s owner, BMW, is thought to be looking at production at its state-of-the-art Regensburg plant where three million BMWs have now been assembled by its 10,000 workers. It is likely to add capacity there rather than in Oxford because of currency exchange rates and other costs that will make it more competitive. continued →
Car Magazine (one of our favorites) is celebrating the MINI’s 50th Anniversary with a series of articles from various contributors. It’s well worth a click and the perfect thing to start off Monday morning.
Our friend Dimitri from the Russian MINI site www.minipeople.ru has asked us to pass on some of the Russian highlights of MINI’s 5th Anniversary party:
I wanted to let you know about activities dedicated to MINI 50th aniversary
that took place in Russia.
Our club turned 5 years old this year, so we are one 10th of MINI’s age and to
celebrate the two events, we had a massive birthday party here in Moscow.
We gathered near the center of Moscow underneath a huge MINI advertising
banner. There were over 80 cars, including 5 classics. Then we set off on what
we call city quest, which involved driving around a preset route and carrying
out certain tasks. This years quest was called MINI Monopoly Quest, because the
task along the route involved stopping off at 7 Z-Stores (official Apple
retailer) and playing renown Monopoly game with a twist. the quest also had a
timed-rally aspect to it, as you could not arrive to the waypoint earlier then
the route card let you, but being more than 7 minutes late gave you penalties. continued →
1st Gen MINI R50: One & MC Hatch R52: All 1st Gen MINI Convt. R53: MCS Hatch 2nd Gen MINI R55: Clubman R56: Hatch R57: Convertible R58: Coupe R59: Roadster R60: MINI Crossover R61: MINI Crossover Coupe 3rd Gen MINI F55: Clubman F56: Hatch F57: Convertible F60: MINI Crossover F62: Traveller
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Sections: F56 Hatch Oct 7th, 2009 46 Comments 
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