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CNN Live At Daybreak

BMW Minis are Here

Aired April 24, 2002 - 06:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But first, the return of the Mini.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX TAYLOR: The Mini is this year's fashion car. Every couple of years a car comes along that really captures the imagination of the motoring public. It really looks like nothing else on the road. The Mini has been described as a motorized roller skate. It's a very short car. The wheels are put right at the extensions of the car and you got very tight steering. It's quick, it's light and it's highly maneuverable. It sells for between $20,000 and $23,000.

What's entertaining about the Mini is the way this car was designed. The instrument panel is great looking, the winged Mini emblem on the steering wheel and a big speedometer right in the middle of the dashboard. It's been very highly designed. It's very stylish.

Five, six years ago, BMW bought the British car company Rover. And as part of their ownership of Rover, they started to develop a small car that would give buyers an introduction to the sporty kind of luxury driving experience of a BMW. And to do that, they decided to reinvent the Mini brand, which first got started back in the 1950s.

Gas is getting expensive again. People have shown a willingness to drive small cars. There's so many new cars available for sale in America today that automakers are really struggling to elevate their cars from the commodity standpoint. They want cars to have a special appeal, so they're willing to experiment with a car like the Mini who's got a worldwide sales volume of only 100,000 but the appeal and the special personality of the car will give it a higher profit margin. The fact that BMW is only bringing in about 20,000 Minis a year means the demand will exceed supply of this car for several years.

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