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Seven photography schools from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States were chosen for the finals of ITS#PHOTO, the International Talent Support competition that MINI dedicates to talented young photographers from around the world. The works in this edition were inspired by the theme “Uniqueness is?” and will be on display in Trieste on July 13 and 14, 2007. Besides publishing a photo spread in MINIInternational, the winner will have a chance to take the first, exclusive ride aboard the eagerly awaited MINI Clubman, an event that will be covered by GQ magazine and a famous photographer.

For the third year in a row, MINI is participating in ITS ? International Talent Support, the platform for creative young people from around the globe. The competition, which has reached its sixth edition, was created and developed by E V E, in cooperation with DIESEL and YKK, and is divided into ITS#FASHION, ITS#PHOTO and ITS#ACCESSORIES sections.

Continue reading ITS#SIX. The MINIInternational Award in Trieste

We’ve had a hard time getting a quick translation for this one, but Microsoft and MINI have teamed up to offer a pretty fantastic prize for Forza Motorsport 2 and MINI Challenge fans (that’ll be several of you guys and girls then!).

Full details, in German, are available at the XBOX 360 MINI Challenge De website, but in short, if you’re good at the game, you could win a seat in the final of the MINI Challenge, in a completely non-pixellated MINI Challenge race MINI!

Going, going - gone! After ten exciting days when the unique 2007 Life Ball MINI was up for auction at ebay.at, the hammer came down on 10 June at exactly 8 p.m. Central European Time: the MINI Cooper designed exclusively by star photographer Mario Testino went for € 24,550 to its new owner in North Germany. As has become traditional for the Life Ball MINI, the entire proceeds will be donated to AIDS support projects.

Continue reading Life Ball MINI by Mario Testino Sold for €24,550 on eBay

MINI USA’s “Covert” automotive marketing campaign, created by Butler Shine Stern & Partners, received top honors in the automotive category at the 39th Annual Effie Awards at New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion on June 8th. Honoring the most significant achievement in the business of marketing communications — ideas that work — the Effie Awards are internationally considered the preeminent award in the advertising industry.

“We are thrilled that MINI and our Covert campaign have been honored as a 2007 Gold Effie Award winner,” said Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. “At MINI, we relish unconventional thinking and continually seek creative, innovative ideas like Covert to deliver the spirit and imagination of the MINI brand to consumers. MINI is more than just a brand-it’s an experience, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a state-of-mind-and MINI’s enthusiastic owner community is a real reflection of that.”

Continue reading MINI USA & Butler Shine Stern & Partners Score Top Automotive Honors at 2007 Effie Awards

MINI USA Today released a press release, further building anticipation of MINI United 2007. The three-day festival at the Zandvoort race track near Amsterdam starts on June 22nd.

Munich/Amsterdam. The countdown has begun: after the overwhelming success of the premiere in 2005 in Misano, Italy, preparations are now getting underway for the second MINI United Festival. The meeting place for thousands of MINI fans from all over the world this time round is the Circuit Park in Zandvoort, near Amsterdam, Holland. The international MINI community will be descending on this venue for three days from June 22nd to 24th 2007. Under the motto “Friends. Festival. Challenge”, spectacular driving events will be held and an exciting supporting programme organised. Among other things, MINI fans will have the possibility to drive their own MINI on the race track, and famous DJs and live acts will help create the festival-like atmosphere. A racing weekend with the German MINI CHALLENGE will provide the sporting climax of this unique lifestyle event.

Continue reading MINI United 2007 - Hype from MINI

MINI USA is now offering a factory-installed digital HD Radio receiver with FM multicasting capability as an option in the all-new 2007 MINI Cooper and Cooper S hardtops, produced from June 2007. MINI joins its sister brand, BMW to be only one of two automotive brands to currently offer HD Radio technology to its customers.

HD Radio technology is one of the most significant advances in radio broadcasting history, providing listeners with enhanced digital audio quality and clear, noise-free reception, as well as multicasting and on-screen text information. The HD Radio multicasting feature allows FM stations to broadcast multiple channels of digital programming simultaneously on a single frequency.

Continue reading MINI USA Offers Factory Installed HD Radio

Only recently the World Record for MINIs (and Minis) in a row was set in Blackpool, England.

But our cousins across the pond seem to have a natural disposition to want to do things bigger, and so they have!

Thanks to Steve Speirs for the tip-off that a MINI meet held at Virginia Beach, Virginia on June 10th broke the record of 269 MINIs, by the grand sum of four vehicles!

So, who’s going to get to the 300 mark first? Will there ever be an end to this madness?! We certainly hope not.

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After the worldwide launch of the new model generation, the MINI is continuing its sustainable growth. In May 2007, the millionth MINI since the market launch was delivered. Under the BMW Group umbrella, this premium small car has been available since summer 2001. On an accumulated basis, 1,003,536 MINI had been delivered to customers up to the end of May. In a monthly comparison, the sales growth for the MINI is 14.1 per cent, or a total of 19,864 vehicles sold (prev.yr.: 17,405). For the year to the end of May 2007, 85,110 MINI were sold, which is 3.5 per cent more than in the previous year (82,246).

Continue reading MINI Sales Grow 14.1%, Pass The Million Mark