Date: 2003-01-09
'We're absolutely thrilled. America loves the MINI,' BMW spokesman Mark Harrison told the London times. The original Mini, first appeared in the UK in 1959. It was available in America for around two years in the late 1960s, but was withdrawn from the market. Now, The MINI Cooper (branded in capitals to distinguish it from the classic model) is being produced produced at BMW's Cowley plant in Oxford. It beat out two Nissan cars to take the accolade.