SubscribeElsewhere on Autolust: BMW 1 Series | Mini | BMW Z4 | BMW X3 | BMW X5 | BMW M3 | Rolls-Royce | BMW 5 Series | BMW X6 | BMW 3 Series |
Blogger
MotoringFile
MotoringFile has great BMW news, photos, videos and more
Today
MINI USA VP on the Premium Market, the Countryman Delay & New US Dealers
We’ve heard the notion before that, with the MINI, BMW brought premium to the small car segment. While that could be argued with a number of earlier products (all available outside the US) it’s hard to argue anyone has ever done it better. This video of MINI USA Vice President Jim McDowell is a...
Yesterday
Rolls Royce MINI Confirmed?
The MINI Rolls Royce edition that we exclusively scooped last summer has reportedly been green lit according to Autocar: Highly placed sources at BMW have told Autocar that the cars will “totally individual” and the project is seeking to create “niche vehicles” for customers. Our sourc...
Wednesday, Nov 18
Nissan Doubles Warranty on CVTs Due to Mechanical Failures
At this point MINI hasn’t acknowledged the issue and it’s not clear that they will ever do so. However if you’ve had your CVT fail on your R50 MINI, make sure you’re voice is heard both at your local dealer and at MINI USA corporate. BMW has a history of eventually taking care of large scale issue...
Monday, Nov 16
MINI E vs the MINI D – Which Would You Rather See in the US?
It appears that not only has the MINI Cooper D (in hatch form) been shelved for the US market, but it would now seem the a diesel Countryman has been as well. Costs are the big issue but beyond that BMW just doesn’t believe MINI USA could sell enough of the diesel powered MINIs to make up for the fe...
Opinion: MINI Admits Issues with MINI E Program
Recently MINI revealed to us some insight into the current MINI E field trial program. We got to drive the car (a review is coming) and we talked about some of the insight that they have gotten from the program launched earlier this year. There is little question that the MINI E field trial was a...
Wednesday, Nov 11
MINI USA Shelves Plans for a Countryman Diesel?
The on again off again on again diesel plans for the US market may be finally off again. MINI USA worked hard to get the a R56 diesel model to the US but ultimately BMW pulled the plug on the idea due to costs. However with the upcoming Countryman crossover rumored to use the same 2.0L diesel found i...
MINI Countryman Update: Five Seats & Four Doors
Of course leading to those four or five seats will be four real doors plus a standard hatchback (a la the R56). So this will be the first official four door MINI. However what’s unclear at this point is what the standard configuration will be in the various markets. Our guess is that four seats wi...
Tuesday, Nov 10
MF Exclusive: MINI USA Delays Countryman for US Market
As we reported earlier today the R60 will feature four seats with an optional five seat configuration. The crossover will have four doors plus a hatchback similar to the one found on the R56. Engines will range from the currently 1.6L petrol range to the new 2.0L BMW derived Diesel powerplant. F...
Sunday, Nov 8
Global MINI Sales Up 11% for October
Official Release: The continued popularity of the MINI and the variety of different models available ensured that sales volumes were up 11.1% for the premium compact car brand (19,323 deliveries/prev.yr. 17,386). The MINI Convertible again performed extremely well and, with 2,172 sale...
Thursday, Nov 5
MINI Celebrates The Opening of New Seattle Dealer
Seattle MINI is owned by Manfred Scharmach, who has been part of the MINI and BMW family for years. He also owns two additional BMW Group sales outlets in Washington, Northwest MINI and BMW Northwest. The dealership is located at 11550 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125-5328.
Tuesday, Nov 3
BMW Group Achieves Positive Quarterly Earnings (MINI Sales up 3.4% in the 3rd Qt)
939,554 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand cars were delivered to customers in the period from January to September 2009 (first nine months 2008: 1,113,972 units / -15.7%). Sales of BMW brand cars dropped by 16.2% to 777,455 units (first nine months 2008: 928,230 units). The number of MINI bran...
Tuesday, Sep 22
Opinion: MINI’s Frankfurt Presentation (Transcript)
Hello everyone and welcome to MINI! Two great cars – and MINI to the core! And you may well ask, what is MINI planning next? I’m really very proud to present the world premiere of not one, but two exciting new concepts for MINI: The MINI Coupé Concept and the MINI Roadster Concept!
Monday, Jun 15
Podcast: White Roof Radio #297, Part 1
The Woofcast is back! So much in fact that we had to split it into 2 parts this week. Starting off tonight, Todd and Gabe spend some time getting caught up, including Gabe’s latest BMW press cars. Of course, this is the MINI Cooper Podcast, so they finished off talking about news [...]
Monday, May 11
MF Review: 2004 BMW 3 Series ZHP
As it turns out the accountants in Munich simply looked at the market for the four door, the tooling and engineers costs associated with bringing it to market and said no thanks. And that should have been the end of the story. But a few enthusiasts deep within BMW knew better. So they went about c...
Monday, Mar 23
Happy 7th Birthday MINI USA
The thing that hits you when you see the MINI for the first time on the road is it’s presence. It’s such a strange thing for such a small car to have so much presence. We want to hear your stories of the those first MINI drives and sightings. Were you on hand for the launch seven years ago? If not what w...
Wednesday, Nov 12
MF Review: Factory JCW Coupe
So that sets the stage. This new factory JCW MINI is the fastest MINI ever made. But is it the best? First let’s look at what BMW did right with this car - the engine. MINI has gone to great pains to compare JCW as a brand to the famed M division under the BMW brand. But you’ll notice that never once do th...
Wednesday, Nov 5
BMW/MINI Respond to a Weakening Economy
Two of our three premium brands - MINI and Rolls-Royce - are growing. Accordingly, we will not be able to reach the planned return on sales of 4 percent for the Group and an EBIT of close to 4 percent in the automobile segment. We might have to increase risk provisions once more in the fourth quar...
Monday, Sep 22
BMW & MINI to Reduce Staff and Sales in North America
Automotive News is reporting that BMW North America and MINI USA will be reducing it’s staff by around 100 employees and turning down 44000 cars (it’s not clear how many if any of that will be MINIs) that were allocated for the North ...
