Paul at MINI2 managed to get a major coup the other day when he interviewed MINIUSA president Jack Pitney. Here are some excerpts:

Question: What is MINI's vision for the product line? There is the One, Cooper, S, and now Diesel, and a soon to be offered Convertible, What does the future hold?

Answer: All I can say on our future is that we are inspired by our past. By that I mean the classic Mini spawned many variants and we are busily working away!

Q: When will the all new new joint venture BMW-Peugeot PSA MINI engines will be introduced in the US market?

A: The introduction date for the new engine is some years away yet as start of production for the engine is set for 2006. At the moment, we are entirely focused on this year and next!

Q: What is the inside story on the Aux Port? For those of us who have done a do-it-yourself job, it seems an awful long time to come out with something that even from MINI is just a connector and 1/8″ jack?

A: We have been working on a fix for this for some time as we know it's something you would like. As I write, we have a dealer-installed optional aux port almost ready.

Q: How has the existence of MINI2 affected things at MINIUSA? Do you personally follow the discussions here? Do others at MINIUSA? Is there any specific example of a change in policy or a change in the car that has come about because of this web site? Please discuss what is either good or bad about a worldwide network of MINI enthusiasts constantly discussing every aspect of these cars. Do you think BMW AG is paying attention? Will it effect the development of future of the MINI?

A: We love MINI2 and the other MINI chatrooms. They are great places to foster the MINI club environment and allow people to swap stories, set up meets etc. We do read MINI2 and the other boards as a way of getting feedback from our hardcore followers and I read MINI2 regularly. The are two downsides I would say to internet chatrooms' people can post anything, true or not and it is somethimes difficult to authenticate stories that have been posted I've seen ones where the story is entirely fabricated). And sometimes the speed of the Net means people can be chatting about an issue and speculating (for example our new shock absorbers' which you are going to love) before anyone is able to substantiate. But on the whole, the web is a great place to share good information and good information can only be a good thing.

You can read then entire interview over at MINI2 here.

That last point is a very interesting. I hope that Mr. Pitney knows that there are sites out there… ahem… that don't just allow anything to be posted and have some respect for the company that brought this all to be. I certainly share some of his frustration in regards to the typical car related forum.

Regardless it's great to see this kind of interview with Mr. Pitney and it's great to see MINI2 get some recongnition from the top. Well done Paul!