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Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024

Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...

BMW Moving MINI Further Upscale

That is the premise MotoringFile puts forth and discusses:
. . . there’s a problem. MINI isn’t making enough money for BMW. The cars are small front wheel drive BMWs being sold for $20,000 USD. Profits are razor thin on moderately specced cars and likely non-existent on stripped down base models. BMW has had two three choices over the past few years. Partner with another automaker (which they’ve tried), abandon the brand (which some have recommended), or simply double down and go it alone.

That’s exactly what they’ve done. BMW has doubled down in its investment of the brand and its products with the UKL platform and an entirely independent strategy that cut out PSA (its former engine partner) from future products. They did this by introducing something many of us never expected to see: front wheel drive BMWs. This strategy has allowed BMW and MINI to remain independent in a shrinking pool of massive global automakers. . . . .