Yahoo Autos BMW-Built Minis Sell Slightly Worse Than the 1960s Originals
BMW's Mini is celebrating a pretty significant milestone, having built its three millionth car. The lucky vehicle turned out to be one of Mini's latest and greatest, an all-wheel drive Clubman John Cooper Works.
BMW might be a century-old automaker, but the new Mini's story only started fifteen years ago, with this:
From an initial run of 300 cars a day in 2001, Mini's Oxford plant grew to put out around 1000 units a day, its current level. It's staffed by 4500 workers in three shifts. Mini's production triangle in the UK includes Oxford (body construction, paintshop and assembly), Swindon (stamping plant) and Hams Hall (engine construction). The facilities manufacture four models (a fifth, the Countryman, is built in Austria by Magna), and 80 percent of the production gets exported to more than 110 markets.
For comparison, the original Mini began production in 1959, and by our rough calculations, the three millionth example rolled off the assembly line some time in 1972, the fourteenth year of production. That means, essentially, that the original first-generation Mini was a slightly more popular vehicle on the market than the many three-door and five-door models that wear the badge today.
Of course, the original Mini had a much longer run than anything BMW builds today, being built largely unchanged until 2000.
That reminds me: the new Clubman is pretty good!
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