2007 MINI may have been officially debuted at the Oxford Plant

[Imhotep Evil]

n what appears to be an almost unheared of case of new model dieting, we’ve learned from a very reliable source that both the 2007 Cooper and Cooper S will weigh less than the 2006 version they will be replacing. You read that right, the slightly larger next generation MINI will be lighter than both the R50 and R53. We don’t have specifics on exactly where the weight savings will come from but undoubtedly one source will be the aluminum block at the center of the new BMW designed four cylinder engine.

You can read more on our continuing coverage of the next generation MINI below:

[ The MF R56 Section ] MotoringFile
The R56 Officially Debuted at Oxford Plant
MotoringFile Sections: Rumor, R56 Mar 13th, 2006 27 Comments

It looks like the 2007 MINI may have been officially debuted at the Oxford Plant by BMW brass late last week. Here’s short account from a rather jaded source at the plant:

The “R56″ was officially unveiled to staff at Plant Oxford last week. The “Roadshow” as it was called, was fronted by Plant Director Dr. Anton Heiss. After much unneeded excitement and questioning from his on stage colleague who’s name I forget, the tarpaulin was hauled off of the already half uncovered car. Dr Heiss talked us through the “ground breaking” developments and how, in his opinion the car is “even more go-kart like.” Yes the R56 has grown in most dimension for example 20mm at the rear but at what cost? The only exciting development I can remember from the roadshow is the fact that the new CooperS engine, labeled the N14, is in-fact turbo-charged!

link: http://motoringfile.com/section/r56/page/1/
http://motoringfile.com/2006/03/13/the-r56-officially-debuted-at-oxford-plant/

Interesting.

 

[EnI]

BMW do this all the time: before the pre-production starts they present a new model to workers in a factory where the product will be built.

It's a tool for motivating the workers.

Nice move.

BMW know how to motivate the workers. E.g. the workers in Leipzig plant got specially designed working couture recently.