In 2002, one of the most influential cars in
automotive history made a triumphant return to
the United States.
But less than two decades later, many in the car
world are asking what many is still doing here.
The tiny English car gave the world a
revolutionary design that boosted the British car
industry and helped consumers comfortably save
fuel during a crippling fuel crisis.
It also became a global phenomenon.
It was made even more famous by Michael Caine in
the 1969 film The Italian Job, and again by a
remake of the film in 2003.
The many left the United States in the 1960s when
it couldn't keep up with changes to emissions
regulations. It's returned to America under the
stewardship of German automotive powerhouse BMW
brought fanfare and high hopes.
But over the years, the mini brand has
increasingly struggled in the U.S.
as buyers in this country turn away from small
cars and toward SUV fees in order to survive.
Many is relying ever more on larger crossover
like vehicles that are very different from the
efficient and compact cars.
Its name suggests.
The Mini first debuted on August 26, 1959.
It was the creation of Sir Alec, it's a Ghana's
chief engineer for the recently formed British
Motor Company. A new baby in a famous family and
important because it's so small.
The British Motor Corporation's many minor BMC
had been looking for a small, very small vehicle
capable of fitting for adults that could compete
with the micro cars developed largely by German
auto companies. Small cars were immensely popular
at the time, due in part to the Suez Crisis,
which had sent fuel prices skyrocketing.
But creating a tiny car that can still
comfortably fit for grown humans is pretty
difficult. Its eagerness and colleagues pulled a
few tricks that allowed them to have it both
ways. They shrunk the car's wheels and pushed
them out to the corners of the frame.
They turned the engine sideways.
The gearbox was stacked below the engine in the
oil pan. This highly efficient design gave the
tiny car a spacious interior.
To get the most space out of the four foot wide,
four foot high, 10 foot long car, the doors were
made so thin that window cranks would not fit, so
sliding windows were installed.
The wheels were a mere 10 inches in diameter.
Even the door hinges were moved outside the car
to save space.
It also gave the vehicle excellent, handling the
extreme positions of the wheels.
Gave the mini a wide stable stance and allowed it
to handle like a go cart.
The weight of the flipped engine kept the front
of the car very stable, despite its practical
advantages. The car bewildered customers at
first, but it took off.
By 1965, 1 million minis had been made.
Wasn't such a revelation to get in his car, which
cost less than five hundred pounds?
It was one of the cheapest cars in the market and
actually start driving it and realize that you
could have an economical vehicle.
That was also fun to drive.
It was in many ways like the Volkswagen Beetle in
that it was something of a classless vehicle
attracting a wide array of buyers.
You were buying a tiny sports car and you didn't
have to be a playboy to afford it.
So it was a great democratization of driving
enjoyment. This was partly helped by its
performance on the track.
The car's unique features made it a favorite
choice for race car drivers in the 1960s.
This eagerness was friends with the British race
car maker and driver John Cooper, who became
enamored with the cars handling and was convinced
it would make an excellent rally car.
Its agonies was initially reluctant, but Cooper
eventually persuaded him to produce the classic
Mini Cooper 9 9 7.
For racing drivers who've grown up with certain
types of cars, with the engine at the front and
the drive at the back. This was just absolute
revelation. Every time somebody got into a Mini
Cooper, they just couldn't believe how well it
went. Mini Coopers placed as high as third in the
famous Monte Carlo rally in 1963 and then won the
race for the first time the following year.
Minis would go on to win in 1965 and 1967, but
the 1969 film The Italian Job is often credited,
even by many itself, as a major catalyst that
boosted the car's reputation around the world.
Actor Michael Caine said that he didn't have a
license when the movie was filmed and actually
learned to drive on set.
The car was perfect for a film about a bank heist
that involved car chases down narrow Italian
streets. The Mini became something of a star in
itself and reportedly spurred a craze for the
tiny car. It also became a favorite ride for
celebrities at the time, including Steve McQueen.
All four Beatles and Mick Jagger from the Rolling
Stones. But the minis impact goes far beyond a
film inspired fad.
It's a gona says space saving power.
Train design, with its transverse engine and
front wheel drive, is today considered a
revolutionary and is credited with inspiring
generations of cars.
In 2000, a panel of 130 automotive journalists
chose the MINI as the European Car of the
Century. It came in second for the overall Car of
the Century award to the Ford Model T.
Over its lifetime, the money has been sold under
different brand names such as Maurice and Austin
and passed from owner to owner.
It ended up in the hands of BMW when the German
automaker bought Britain's Rover group in 1994.
The merger turned out to be bad for both parties,
and BMW ended up selling off most of the group's
brands, including Land Rover.
But it kept many, which remains part of BMW s
portfolio today.
Under BMW, Mini undertook its first redesign in
more than three decades.
To its horror, it realizes that nothing has been
done over decades to sort of replace this iconic
car that everyone loves.
So the old one realizes it is edging slowly
towards the point where it would be legal to sell
it anymore. You know, it can't be crash
regulations. It's polluting.
It's unsafe.
You know, it's noisy.
The company reintroduced the brand to North
America in 2002.
That year, a remake of the Italian job came out
with a distinctly different plot and a largely
American cast replacing the British one.
Critics observed that the minis were the only
link between the original film and the new one.
But BMW s new mini also aroused the ire of many
purists. The new BMW Mini was bigger than the
original, and detractors accused it of being more
of a retro looking showpiece than a true heir to
the original. By many measures, the car was a hit
anyway. BMW executives reportedly would have been
happy with selling 150000 minis around the world
in the early 2000s.
Today, they sell more than twice that.
But sales are falling that roughly 360 1000
units sold in 2018 was a 2.8
percent drop over the previous year.
Europe is the brighter spot in the story.
Sales of the BMW owned Mini have grown more or
less steadily from around 25000 cars in 2001 to
270000 thousand in 2018.
But in the U.S.,
many sold 7 percent fewer cars in 2018 than it
did in 2017.
The decline continue to trend.
The brand has suffered since 2013, when sales
peaked at around 66000 units.
Many is yet another one of those small, quirky
and highly practical cars that is in one way,
quite literally, sitting in the shadow of taller,
chunkier crossovers.
Sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, which
are far more popular with buyers.
Many has tried to combat this by broadening its
product lineup. The company that made its name
selling tiny fuel efficient cars now sells a long
five door car called the Club Men and a crossover
like model called The Countryman.
This is the icon, the one that started it all,
but not the only one.
Final one for you. So although the calls who have
that harmony look to them, they really keep on
top of regulations and customer expectations to
keep improving it. And they don't want to go back
to that old British.
They say fair of just.
No, no. Well, we did. We make them like this and
we've always made them like this.
But by beefing up its vehicles, many is moving
further and further away from the traits that
made it so famous in the first place.
The Mini Cooper, for example, grew nearly 10
inches in length from 2002 to 2016.
It grew an inch and a half in width and gained
about 400 pounds.
Many had experimented with different designs in
its early days, including vans, wagons and
pickups. And to be fair, cars tend to get bigger
over time. The mid-sized pickups of today are all
larger than their forebears.
For example, comparing the size of a specific
model from the early 2000s, such as the BMW 3
series sedan with the three series of today will
demonstrate that even a single model is likely to
fatten up over time.
Today that evolution of light just standard Mini
Cooper to what we have now.
Like many SUV is antithetical to what the brand
stands for. Mini is also one of many automakers
betting that it can find a future by going
electric. The mini countryman hybrid accounted
for 13 percent of the countrymen's total sales in
2018. The brand also debuted its first fully
electric production car, the Mini Cooper s E in
July of 2019.
Mini is lucky in that it has an exceptionally
strong brand identity, so the company has begun
to seek fortune outside the traditional
automotive business.
Some recent initiatives, which are so far small
in scope, are nonetheless remarkable and highly
unconventional for a car company.
For example, Mini has branched out into fields
such as fashion and real estate development.
The brand has partnered with Chinese development
firm Nova Property Investment Company to convert
a former paint factory in Shanghai, China, into a
mixed use communal living facility comprised of
apartments, workspaces and cultural and leisure
amenities in 2016.
Many also launched an incubator in Brooklyn, New
York, for startups across a range of industries,
including transportation.
These are bets many industry watchers say are
necessary for any automotive company to arm
itself for an uncertain future.
Many was a brand that grew out of a dire need for
small, fuel efficient cars.
But what made it such a strong cell generations
ago now makes it seem like a niche product, even
a curiosity to many consumers.
Despite the grumblings of all these many fans who
not long for this world, I would say, you know,
that the the way the the way they are running it
now is a premium. Small car brands is the right
thing to do. Many says the move toward larger
vehicles is in its favor.
The company sees this as its opportunity to gain
market share and reclaim the premium small car
market once again.
Many said its current generation is the best
product it has ever made, and that changes in
size are due in large part to minis need to meet
safety regulations.
If the brand wants to stay alive in the U.S.,
it will need to adapt.
Otherwise, like some other small car makers, it
could find itself pulling up stakes and leaving
to the disappointment of many loyal fans.