Timelines for new MINI

[euan]

Well, I had a quiet word with a mini dealer just now.

This is what he told me.

Press launch for the R56 is August 1st
Dealer launch will be mid November
First customer cars will be late 06, but more likely early 07.

He told me some other stuff but it was stuff I already knew (where it's being built, what the engine is etc).

London motor show is the week prior to the press launch. Can we assume it may have it's debut there?

[Smurf]

I'd heard it was being unveiled at the Paris Motor Show on the 30th September.....

[illegalhunter]

its getting a puggy engine with a turbo

[Sweeney]

it's a joint venture between bmw and psa-peugeot-citroen :), 150bhp turbo charged for the cooper i believe.

"PSA Peugeot Citroën / BMW

In 2002, PSA Peugeot Citroën and BMW announced a cooperation to jointly develop and produce a new family of small gasoline engines featuring state-of-the-art technologies. Beginning in 2006, the engines will equip small and mid-size cars produced by the Peugeot and Citroën marques as well as future models of the BMW Mini. Delivering a range of power outputs from 55 kW (75 hp) to 125 kW (170 hp), the engines will set new standards for performance, driving comfort and reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Some 2,500 engines a day will be produced in a new facility at the Française de Mécanique plant in Douvrin, with total output expected to eventually total around one million units a year. "