The 100,000th Mini today came off the production line at the BMW Group#;s Oxford plant (previously Rover#;s large car factory), 13 months after volume production started.
Just-auto suspects car number 100,000 was deliberately scheduled to be a supercharged, electric blue Cooper S, which, coincidentally of course, has just been shown to UK journalists in Scotland prior to going on sale here on June 8.
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Over a quarter of the One and Cooper versions built to date – 25,000-plus – have been sold in the Mini#;s UK home market where sales began last March.
After driving the 100K car off the assembly line, Oxford plant managing director Dr Herbert Diess said: “It’s great to reach this important production milestone on schedule thanks to the tremendous efforts of our employees at the plant.
“The reaction to the Mini has been astonishing and we are currently working seven days a week to meet customer demand.”
BMW plans to boost production by 15-20% this year from the 100,000 cars originally scheduled, mainly due to better than expected demand in the US, where the Cooper and Cooper S models went on sale a few weeks ago.
A diesel version with the Toyota Yaris 1.4-litre direct injection diesel engine goes on sale next year and industry pundits expect it will be badged ‘One D#; and priced between the base petrol One and mid-range Cooper.
