The 1.5 millionth new Mini has been produced at the firm's Oxford plant, in the year the firm celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Production of the original Mini began in 1959 and more than 5.3 million units of the car were made up to 2000.
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Ian Robertson, BMW group board member, said: “This is a great day for the plant and a wonderful milestone to reach in the 50th birthday year of Mini. The very first classic Mini rolled off the production line here at this plant on 8 May 1959.”
Robertson believed the Mini to be “recession proof” and said: “This is a tough time for the car industry and no business is immune from its challenges, but Mini is an extremely resilient brand with huge customer appeal.”
Mini sales in the UK are down 27.91 per cent year-on-year to date, but showed signs of improvement in June, when they were down 11.81 per cent year-on-year for the month. The company has sold 382 cars under the scrappage scheme so far.
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