| One Million MINIs | ||
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(Fri 18 Jul 08) Actually, well over a million MINIs have emerged from Plant Oxford since production began back in 2001. The important statistic here is that MINI has reached seven figures in terms of cars built for export markets.
Exports have played an increasingly significant role for MINI over the years. In 2001 they accounted for less than 60% of production, but the proportion now exceeds 80%. The number one export market is the US, where sales reached 26,400 units in the first half of this year. The next most successful countries for MINI are Germany, Italy and Japan. The UK still has more MINI buyers than any other single country, though, and according to a report covering the period up to the end of 2004, BMW Group contributes over £1 billion to our gross domestic profit, and MINI of course is a major contributor. The figure has probably been exceeded now, but that won't be confirmed until another report due to be published early next year, which will look at the situation up to the end of 2007. MINI's latest car, the John Cooper Works tested recently, will be officially launched next week at the British International Motor Show, where the brand will be displayed in the large and intriguing Miniversity. |
