pommie bastard

Seems like you lads talk a better game than you play yet again, after weeks of bull about the over grown grand dad car the Holdern Monaro and how the Yankies would love .
Yet again the Brit built cars are getting all the head lines , maybe a good car requires more that a V8 and poor design?



THE Mini has been voted Car Of 2003 in the USA.

The accolade for the new Cooper version at the Detroit Motor Show confirms the love affair the big country has with the world’s most famous little car.

It is the first time a British-built motor has scooped the title. Judges dubbed it “stylish�, “huggable� and “affordable� at just $20,000 — £12,400.

It is a remarkable success for the car. The original it is based on — a Sixties icon — was never a success over the pond.

While more than five million old Minis were snapped up worldwide, Americans only bought around 10,000.

Yet nearly 25,000 new Minis — built at BMW’s Cowley plant in Oxford — have been sold in America since the model was launched there last March.

The award is set to further boost sales — and waiting lists. There is already a six-month queue for the more powerful new Cooper S.

Manufacturing minister Alan Johnson last night hailed the Mini’s award as a triumph for British industry.

He said: “This is a huge success for the workers of Cowley who have suffered much uncertainty in recent years.

“They have risen to the challenge of innovating and retraining to develop a world-class product that has proven itself on the international stage.�




Old style ... Gas-guzzlers like this '53 Cadillac
Eldorado were the usual status symbols
The tiny car’s success is revolutionary in a country where gas guzzling Cadillacs are the usual status symbol.

The Cooper has become a must-have for fashion conscious new car buyers from Manhattan in the east to Beverly Hills on the West Coast.

Its popularity is a credit to British craftsmanship — and to German car makers BMW who bought the brand, restyled the car and put it in production.

Last year I had first-hand experience of the Mini’s pulling power in America when The Sun gave New Yorkers a sneak peek at the little gem.

Passers-by stared at me as if I was sitting in an alien space craft. Even taxi drivers stopped for a gawp at traffic lights.

The excitement started in Central Park, where everyone from rollerbladers and joggers to policemen crowded round for a look at the car.

NYPD officer Shaun Wick predicted the Mini would be a US cult car. He added: “It’s much more desirable than the Beetle. America’s been waiting for a little car like this.�

The Mini joined a best-of British line-up which took Detroit by storm. Four new models from our most famous firms — Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and Jaguar — were the stars of America’s biggest motoring event.

All are due to be hits in America, with sales bosses expecting waiting lists of up to six months.

Aston Martin are aiming to take on the Porsche 911 with their new £70,000 “baby� AM Vantage, due out next year.
The “affordable� Aston is set to help triple sales.

The big four’s dominance confirms the revival of interest in British luxury cars worldwide.

Racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, visiting the Detroit show, said: “Britain has some of the best designers and engineers in the car industry.

“These new British models confirm that."

dotty

I keep reading on this site that lots of Aussies drive V8,s, I am confused here, they are avoided like the plague in QLD and NSW.
Is it true that they are driven a lot in Perth?, would have thought Australias most popular car was more like a Hyundai 4 cylinder. Perhaps Pommie can answer that one. Where do these strange notions come from?

renth

PB, the Mini, like the Jag, Rolls Royce & the Royal Family is German.

I think we still make Robin Reliants here.

Monaro is American - GM. As you have pointed out recently.

pommie bastard

These are built in the UK and designed in most cases in the UK , and employ a lot of people, there has never been an Australian owned car company ever.By the way prat head Jag is own by Ford but the Brits still own Rover ,TVR , Morgan , Bristol to name a few.


Britain still has a powerful role in design and engineering,the country's largest British-owned manufacturer is Rover , then one has to head to Blackpool and the TVR sports car factory to find the next biggest.

However, nearly 800,000 UK jobs are still dependent on an industry which has produced 1.5m cars in 1999. And analysts argue that whichever badge is on the bonnet, British-made vehicles are still a quality product.

pommie bastard

The hoons love here because of the noise they produce , most people are turning away from the larger engine car , but Australia for what ever reason only makes cars with 3 litre plus engine cars they seem to think thats what the market here wants.
As with everthing it cannot read the world market which is going for small engines and in Europes case more diesels , they are grasping at the Monaro selling in America the first ever Aussie moter sold there some hope, to sell it they have rebadged it as a Pontac who who buy a Holdern there?

renth

But the Krauts hold the purse strings and call the shots.

Not Hondas, or Toyotas, the British assembled ones are inferior to the ones made in Japan.

The new Rovers are nice though.

pommie bastard

Get real Honda and Toyota have plants in the UK because its the best place in Europe for them to produce cars , the Krauts sold Rover back to a British company and TVR make the fastest production car in the world.You will do well in Australia its got sod all any good? you will see lots of Jags (Ford owned) and Land Rovers here plus new MGs are selling well even the chairman of the company I work for drives a new Rover ever seen a Aussie car in the UK?



Nissan's Sunderland car plant - widely considered to be one of the most advanced in Europe - owes its success to its people as much as its high technology.
The production lines are dazzling examples of high-tech, with 250 robots helping the workforce assemble and weld car bodies.

But John Cushnaghan, managing director of Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK has no doubt where credit for the factory's success lies, saying this week: "In my opinion, our workers are the best in the world

Perth Helena

Sounds like a bunch of sales hype. Yes, it's a cutesy little thing, likely popular with teenaged girls and their mums, or a second weekend car for some old farts. It sold 25,000 cars, did it? In a country with 260million people - big deal. It's a trendy little thing, like that new Beetle a few years ago. Caused a lot of hype and hysteria, fueled by the marketers, but it didn't exactly take over the market. Sorry, but I cannot see Americans embracing this car, or any other little car, including the Monaro.

When I was in California a couple of months ago, the most popular car was anything big. Really big. As big as you could get. Tahoes, Navigators, Hummers, etc. With full-sized American flags waving off the back of them. Our friend said they're multiplying like rabbits. A year ago there weren't as many as there are now. Gas is cheap there. And those trucks are cheap. Talked to the owner of one of those monster trucks - a 21-year old girl not much taller than the tyres on her monster. It had a big pink bow on the front grille. You'd think someone like that would go for one of those minis or beetles, but nope, she's in a big mother of a truck. The American Way.

pommie bastard

The best selling British made car in America is the Jag so for a small car like the mini to sell 25,000 and have a waiting list shows the America is due for a change , America wide 4 cylinder engines are the biggest sellers, yes they do go in or the big trucks but tastes change and oil prices are even rising in the USA.
The Monaro has little offer apart from an oversize yankie engine , the car lacks style and street cred just another grand dad moblie.