At first glance, the story we ran the other day about job losses at MINI was shocking. After all, if the makers of the UK’s lowest depreciating car are having to cut production and lay off staff, then surely the less efficient car makers, with less desirable products, must be facing oblivion. But that got […]
It must be bad – Mini to shed 850 jobs and slash production
There were a few shining lights in car production last year, despite the economic doom and gloom. Ferrari did well (but we doubt for long), Audi kept growing, Fiat posted record profits and Rolls Royce had a record year. And one company that managed to grow sales was Mini (although an analysis of their sale […]
Mini Cooper Cabriolet JCW to show at Geneva
Ahead of the Geneva Motor Show next month, images have surfaced of the ‘Hot’ new Mini Cooper Cabriolet John Cooper Works version. The new JCW Mini Cab gets most of the tweaks the standard JCW Mini Cooper gets, including a more aggressive front end. But the heart of the JCW is what goes on under […]
Alfa Romeo MiTo beats Mini
When we did a review of the Alfa Romeo MiTo recently, we were pretty smitten. Yes, it has its faults, but don’t all cars? And we speculated that if its residuals hold up it could turn out to be an absolutely cracking buy. Well, it looks like they will. CAP (the trade bible) has just […]
Mini One Clubman to launch at Geneva
The Mini story continues, with the announcement that a new entry-level Clubman, the Mini One Clubman, is to launch at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The Mini One Clubman comes with the same 1.4 litre engine as the Mini One, producing 95bhp and boasting the same suspension set-up as the Mini Coopers, which at […]
2009 Mini Convertible Springs In
It’s been a bit of a ‘Mini-Fest’ this week, what with the Mini E in Berlin and the news that the Mini is the least depreciating car in the UK. And now we have the first official images of the new Mini Convertible, due to hit showrooms in Spring 2009. Based of course on the […]
Mini E Hits Europe
BMW has decided that as well as running a heap of Mini Es (Electric Vehicles – EV) in California, New York and New Jersey, it is going to do the same in Europe – supplying 50 Mini E to motorists in Berlin, as well as the 500 in the US. The Mini E is by […]
Mini is the UK’s Slowest Depreciating Car
That vital tool of the used-car trade, Glass’s Guide, has today revealed that the Mini 1.4TD is the slowest depreciating car in the UK. For the second year running, the Mini tops the table, although even it has slipped a bit – retaining 63.2% of its value over three years, a fall of 7.8% since […]