MINI Cooper Info A place to learn about the MINI Cooper
British long jumper leaps over three Mini Coopers
In honor of a brand-new limited edition Mini Cooper created for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, British track and field athlete J.J. Jegede took flight for a rather interesting stunt involving the cars. Jegede who is a champion British long jumper decided to take on a stunt where he would jump over three well-placed Mini Coopers and land in a sand pit on the other side of the structure. For most this seems like an impossible task but it appeared to be a day at the beach for the Olympic hopeful.
When he was asked about the stunt itself, Jegede stated that he was excited to take on the challenge: “When you watch athletics on TV it’s hard to really understand just how far professional athletes can jump. “I’ve always wanted to demonstrate my ability in a fun way, so I jumped at the chance to perform an Evel Knievel-style display. It is my ultimate dream to compete at London 2012.”
We’ll Make a Manual Out Of You Campaign
MINI has done it again – a cheeky look at manual driving vs. automatic. Check out this handbook and then go to the MINI website and watch the video . Lastly, look at the comparison chart of Stick vs. Automatic drivers (click on image to enlarge). Don’t know how to drive a manual transmission? MINI of Westchester will teach you. Contact me for details.
Mini: The car that made the ’60s swing
Courtesy of IOL Motoring…. Nice history of the MINI. Click here for article
U.S. Sales of Fiat 500 Fail to Live Up to Expectations
Fiat blames nascent dealer network on poor sales
Fiat was supposed to make a triumphant return to the U.S. market with its diminutive and distinctively styled 500. However, things haven’t exactly panned out exactly the way that Fiat planned according to The Detroit News.
The 500 is a subcompact that is being pitted directly against the Mini Cooper (an upcoming Arbath model will target the Mini Cooper S). On a lesser degree, the 500 also competed with the Smart fortwo and the upcoming Scion iQ.
However, sales of the tiny four-seater are nowhere close to reaching the lofty goals set by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. Fiat expected to sell 40,000 500s during 2011 in North America. Through the first seven months of 2011, Fiat sold fewer than 12,000.
For comparison, BMW AG’s Mini brand had total sales of 34,527 through July. The two-door Cooper/Cooper S coupe and convertible models alone accounted for over 20,000 of those sales.
Laura Soave, head of Fiat North America says that establishing a dealer network in the U.S. has taken longer than expected which has contributed to the poor sales. “We have coverage now, so now is the time for us to turn this up,” Soave added.
Two basic models of the vehicles are currently available to U.S. customers: the 500 (coupe) and the 500c (convertible). The cheapest model available is the 500 Pop which has a base MSRP of $15,550 (the cheapest Mini Cooper will set you back $19,400). The Fiat 500 also has good fuel economy for a subcompact with EPA ratings of 30mpg in the city and 38mpg on the highway with a 5-speed manual.
Shares of Fiat SpA dropped over 4 percent on the news of poor 500 sales.
Win A Trip With MINI’s 10th Birthday Celebrations
MINI marks a decade of fun and stylish motoring with a launch into space and the chance to win a trip of a life time. Over a third of a million Brits have bought one, they’ve clocked up an estimated 15 billion miles on UK roads and have driven enough miles to go around the world 600,000 times or take 33,000 return journeys to the moon and back*…
In the summer of 2001 the very first BMW built MINI rolled off of the production line in Oxford, 10 years later MINI is celebrating a decade of motoring by taking its owners on a virtual trip into space.
MINI is inviting its owners and enthusiasts to log the details of their car into a virtual space world called ‘MINI Lunatics’ (www.mini.co.uk/lunatics). Using the car’s mileage, their MINI will be blasted into the depths of virtual space before being docked in the MINI space station.
Exclusive prizes are available for lucky owners who randomly dock in a part of the MINI space station where a prize is hidden. A trip for four to Cape Canaveral is also up for grabs for any ‘MINI Lunatics’ who find seven hidden words which have been carefully placed around the site. Users can enter the prize draw by clicking on the moon.
Extra special prizes are also up for grabs for drivers who have driven the equivalent distance to the moon. Drivers with 252,000 miles or more can register their MINI’s details to be in with a chance of winning special limited edition MINI memorabilia.
MINI Countryman wins the latest J.D Power APEAL study
Driving pleasure, premium quality and reliability guarantee the latest models from the BMW and MINI brands the highest acclaim in international automobile markets. That has been confirmed yet again in a recent study conducted by international market research firm J.D. Power. In its latest customer survey – the Automotive Performance and Layout Study (APEAL) – assessing satisfaction levels among North American new car buyers, the BMW 5 Series range, BMW X3, BMW Z4 and MINI Countryman emerged as winners of their respective vehicle segments. In addition, four more models from the BMW Group finished in the top three of their category. This tally means the BMW Group boasts the highest number of segment winners of all manufacturers in the latest APEAL survey.
Such excellent individual scores also boosted the overall rankings of the BMW and MINI brands, with BMW coming third in the latest survey. As well as the class-winners – the BMW 5 Series range, BMW X3 and BMW Z4 – the outstanding results of the BMW 7 Series range also contributed to this outcome. The luxury saloon not only came second in its segment but also claimed the second-highest individual score of all the vehicles involved in the APEAL survey, making it the top European model in the entire competition. The BMW 3 Series range and the BMW X6 also finished as runners-up in their respective segments.
The MINI brand likewise bumped up its overall results compared to the previous year. The main driving force here was the new MINI Countryman, which instantly took top honours in its vehicle class. The MINI Cooper also made it onto the winners’ podium, finishing second in its segment.
J.D. Power and Associates ranks among the world’s leading market research firms. Through its numerous surveys, the renowned institute regularly evaluates satisfaction levels among vehicle buyers in the main international car markets. The results of the latest APEAL study for North America are based on a customer survey carried out by J.D. Power on average three months after initial vehicle registration. You can read the full survery here….