MINI Cooper is USA Car of the Year

The new MINI has become the first European car to be voted the USA's Car of the Year.

The new MINI Cooper beat out the Nissan 350Z and the Infiniti G35 for the award, which was announced during the media preview of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 7, 2003.

Owned by BMW, the MINI is built at the former Rover plant in Cowley, Oxford, England, and it is the direct descendant of the classic Mini of Swinging London in the 1960's.

Forty-nine journalists from the United States and Canada representing major magazines and newspapers cast car-of-the-year ballots.

MINI spokesman Mark Harrison said, "We're absolutely thrilled that America loves the Mini."

The car only went on sale in the US in March of 2002 and the entire yearly allocation of 20,000 sold within days. Mr. Harrison: "We did wonder how it would go down in the States - it's so different to anything the Americans are used to."

Manufacturing Minister Alan Johnson, said: "This is a huge success for workers at Cowley." And consumers all over the world, we might add.

Now, Detroit understands...

One year ago, we reported that MINI would be a great success. As we reported on January 15, 2002: "At last year's show, the Motor City press wondered whether BMW could sell 20,000 MINI's in the USA. This year they'll soon learn that 20K is not enough."

Today, the assembly lines at Cowley are operating 24 hours a day, American consumers are willing to pay thousands of dollars above the sticker price for a MINI, and now Detroit understands.

In celebration of the award, MINI USA ran a full-page ad in the USA TODAY newspaper's January 10 edition. The print ad is being created by MINI ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami, Florida.

The award is also being highlighted on the MINI website and it is the subject of an outbound email campaign sent to 150,000 consumers who have signed up for the MINI newsletter.