Mini Convertible Boat Concept to Attend Philly Regatta

Visitors and participants at this week's 2013 Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, which is held on Schuylkill River in Philadelphia from May 10 to 11, will have the opportunity to see a special Mini Convertible concept seemingly driving on the water.

The one-of-a-kind Mini Convertible boat is the creation of the MINI USA Eastern Region and was designed and built as part of the MINI USA’s Not Normal sales event last October having travelled on water for the first time at the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the 2012 races.

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Mini Exec Says Some Models will Be Discontinued, Rocketman May Not Be Produced

Under BMW ownership, the Mini brand has expanded big time, covering more and more segments of the luxury small car market. However, not all new models are commercially successful, and BMW plans to get rid of them when they reach the end of their lifecycle.

Of course, we’re not talking about the core Mini model, the hatchback. Jim McDowell, vice president of Mini USA, told Edmunds that the hatch and the Countryman are the brand’s core models, accounting for about 75 percent of sales. In 2012, Mini sold about 66,200 vehicles in the U.S., around 50,000 of which were those two models.

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MINI Remembers 12 Concept Models Created Under the Ownership of the BMW Group

For most people in the northern hemisphere, August is the last summer month of relaxation and freedom before the new season kicks in and we all return to reality.

What this means for most industries and especially the automotive sector, is that there is not a lot going on, which could explain why MINI chose this month to reminisce about its past concepts, from the moment it was acquired by the BMW Group in the mid-1990s to the present day.

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The Mini-Me MINI of the BMW Group's London Olympic and Paralympic Games Fleet

After the 160 BMW 1-Series ActiveE coupes and 40 MINI E hatchbacks, the Bavarian automotive group today presented its third pure-electric vehicle to the London Olympic and Paralympic fleet: the Mini MINI.

Evidently, and unlike the other two models, the Mini MINI was not designed to shuttle athletes and officials within the Olympic Park and surrounding Games sites.

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Minier Mini Rocketman Concept Updated for the London 2012 Games

The concept study that debuted at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and which was initially thought to base a smaller Mini hatchback before we learned than the BMW Group dropped those plans, has been updated to promote the company’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

So what's new with the 2012 edition of the Mini Rocketman Concept? For starters, the updated model now wears the colors of the British national flag, the Union Jack, both inside and out.

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2012 Life Ball Mini Roadster Designed by Vogue Editor, Franca Sozzani

After teasing us with a single sketch in the beginning of May, Mini went ahead and presented the Roadster Cooper S designed by Franca Sozzani, chief editor of Italian Vogue, at the 2012 edition of the annual Life Ball charity event in Vienna, Austria.

The one-off creation was auctioned off at the AIDS Solidarity Gala for €54,000 (US$69,000) to an unnamed buyer.

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After Camping, MINI Takes the Cooper Hatchback for Yachting

For some unexplained reason, Mini has discovered a deep-seated love for nature introducing not one, but two different conceptions targeting buyers that love going out and enjoying the environment.

Following the presentation of the two camping solutions, the British brand has crafted together a new amphibious model called the MINI Cooper Yachtsman and revealed it online before it makes its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show, right beside the Hudson River.

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