The new MINI One, Cooper, Cooper S and Cooper D

From April 2007, a new MINI One and the first ever MINI Cooper D joined the second-generation MINI line-up, five months after the launch of the new MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S models.

The new MINI One is more powerful than its predecessor, but with significant improvements in fuel consumption and emissions. The MINI Cooper D has the lowest CO2 emissions in the MINI range and across BMW Group. 2007 is set to be the best-ever sales year for MINI yet, with four second-generation MINIs now available.

Back in July 2001, when 50,000 Brits visited the new MINI showrooms over the launch weekend, the sceptics were still flowing with ‘flash-in-the-pan’ retro-car rhetoric. But an unbeatable combination of grin-inducing driving dynamics, emotive design, solid engineering and high-quality materials, and unbeatable cost-of-ownership programmes have seen MINI make a memorable mark in the first decade of the century.

The second generation new MINI therefore has a tremendous foundation on which to build. It moves forward, whilst remaining classically MINI. The key has been to combine a fine-tuning and re-designing of virtually every part of the car, with the retention of the iconic design cues, ownership benefits and personalisation opportunities that owners love. And it has clearly worked. 2007 has seen record sales and order rates.

Every exterior panel is new, as is the whole of the interior. The engines are new, built in the UK, and offer major reductions in fuel consumption and emissions. New suspension set-ups, six-speed manual and automatic transmissions, and a bespoke electric steering system hone the car’s much-loved dynamics.

Packaging, comfort and practicality have been fettled to offer an improved cabin. High standard specification, ‘big car’ options, and packages of equipment allow even greater opportunities for individuals to personalise their MINIs. Finally, MINI’s sporting bias is referenced with the availability of Dynamic Stability Control that can be disengaged, Sports button on the Cooper S, a Sports Suspension set-up available on all models and a new automatic transmission featuring paddleshifts.

So, it’s all change for the new MINI. All change, that is, except for a few key details.

MINI’s unbeatable tlc servicing package will be retained, contributing to the strong residual values that, for the most part of 2006, were bettered by no car in the UK. Iconic design details such as the headlights, contrasting roof, wheel hub to A-pillar seam, rear light units, and central speedo remain core to MINI’s design. Finally, MINI is at home in the UK, with a record number of cars revving up to leave the Oxford plant in the years ahead. And a major milestone was achieved in April 2007 when the one millionth MINI rolled off the production line.

That drive to push Plant Oxford’s production lines to capacity was recognised in September ’06 by the new Chairman of the BMW Group and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer commemorating the first of the new generation off the line. In announcing plans for further expansion and the development of a bigger MINI family, they triggered the green light to the future success of the car.

Sir Alec Issigonis’ genius started this story in the fifties, whilst Britain’s love affair with the MINI continues to add further chapters as it heads off into the back end of the ‘noughties’. The only difference now is that the MINI is a truly global success, and a success that is set to reach new heights.