PressClub United Kingdom · Article.
Diesel MINI announced
Thu May 16 12:00:00 CEST 2002 Press Release
Following the MINI One and MINI Cooper launch in 2001 and the impending arrival of MINI Cooper S on June 8, it was confirmed today at BMW Group's Annual General Meeting that a diesel MINI will be available in 2003.
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BMW Group
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Author.
Barbara Brailey
BMW Group
Following the MINI One and MINI Cooper launch in 2001 and the impending arrival
of MINI Cooper S on June 8, it was confirmed today at BMW Group's Annual
General Meeting that a diesel MINI will be available in 2003.
Specification and technical details are still to be announced, but Professor
Joachim Milberg, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, confirmed that
a 1.4-litre diesel engine has been sourced from Toyota Motor Corporation. The
engine, recently introduced into the Toyota Yaris line-up, will be built in
Japan and modified for performance and physical fit into MINI's engine bay. The
Oxford production plant will build 10 - 20,000 diesel MINIs per year.
Trevor Houghton-Berry, General Manager for MINI UK said: "We're pleased the
deal has been done and are looking forward to adding another chapter to the
MINI story. This is a great little engine that will complement MINI's renowned
chassis and handling. It is important that MINI is represented in the growing
market for small diesel cars and, as with MINI One, Cooper and Cooper S, we'll
ensure that the diesel MINI will be the most desirable small car in its field."
Ends
Editors notes:
Diesel powered cars now account for 14 per cent of all cars on UK roads
(approximately 3.5 million).
Diesels accounted for 16 per cent of new car sales in 1997, but 23.2 per cent
in April 2002.
The small-car segment has grown by 30 per cent since 1997 and total sales last
year of superminis and city cars reached a record 780,000.