Category Archive:
Posted by George Peterson on July 31, 2012 at 12:58 pm
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) for Popular Brands recognizes the brand whose vehicles best hits the targets its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
For 2012, MINI achieves the top ratings from its owners outpointing second place Popular Brand GMC by 31 rating points. Owners of the MINI Cooper give the cheeky Premium Compact Car a dominating win in its category over the Subaru Impreza WRX. The all new MINI Countryman outpoints second place Kia Sportage by 78 rating points. MINI’s bold head-turning styling, combined with premium design cues and efficient, though small, packages yield an impressive score in AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award research.
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Posted by George Peterson on July 30, 2012 at 12:59 pm
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
MINI Dominates Subaru Impreza WRX for IVA Win: The 2012 MINI Cooper comes closest to the ideal of any Premium Compact Car. The MINI dominates the second place Subaru Impreza WRX by 62 rating points to win its class. Having eighty-percent or more of owners rating a characteristic ideal is outstanding. Achieving a score of ninety-percent is even more impressive. Ninety-percent or more of MINI owners rate exterior size, interior lighting, exterior styling and ride and handling ideal. Eighty-percent or more of MINI owners find these additional characteristics ideal: wheels, driver’s seat comfort, power and acceleration, ease of getting in and out and safety features.
A Few Shortfalls – Most are Related to Size and Style, but Infotainment can be Improved. MINI owners chose one of the smallest cars on the market when selecting their car, but 30% want more cargo space and 26% want more passenger roominess. About 33% want more interior storage compartments. About 28% want better driver’s seat visibility than now. About 28% of MINI owner want more infotainment technology in their car.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/consumer-s-ideal-cars-revealed-in-2012-iva-awards-112116/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
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Posted by George Peterson on July 30, 2012 at 12:38 pm
AutoPacific’s Ideal Vehicle Award (IVA) recognizes the vehicle that best hits the target its buyers demand. Winning an IVA shows the product planners, engineers and designers of the manufacturer understand what their target customers want and have created the vehicle to best meet their demands.
MINI Countryman Dominates Kia Sportage for IVA Win: The 2012 MINI Countryman comes closest to the ideal of any Compact Crossover SUV. The Countryman edges out the second place Kia Sportage by 78 rating points to win in its class. Having eighty-percent or more of owners rating a characteristic ideal is outstanding. Achieving a score of ninety-percent is even more impressive. Ninety-percent or more of Countryman owners rate its exterior size, interior lighting, passenger roominess, exterior styling, wheels, driver’s seat comfort, ease of getting in and out and safety features ideal. Eighty-percent or more of Countryman owners find these additional characteristics ideal: ride and handling and tires.
A Few Shortfalls – Some Basic: Many of the Countryman’s shortfalls are related to package and style. About 37% of Countryman owners want more interior storage compartments. About 31% of Countryman owners want better driver’s seat visibility. About 30% want more cargo space. About 29% want more infotainment technology. About 25% want more power and acceleration but only 1% would trade off power and acceleration for better fuel economy.
You can find an Autobytel review of this IVA award winner at http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/awards/ideal-suvs-pickups-rated-by-owners-in-2012-iva-awards-112117/
For a complete summary of all AutoPacific 2012 Ideal Vehicle Award results contact karin.turner@vehiclevoice.com and title your email “IVA Results”. A copy of the results will be emailed to you within 48-hours.
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Posted by Stephanie Brinley on June 29, 2009 at 7:33 am
“The MINI Cooper wins AutoPacific’s 2009 Ideal Vehicle Award for the Image Compact Car class. An Image Compact Car isn’t about pure functionality, but owners of the new MINI clearly value the design excellence of the car,” said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, Inc. “Mini provides the cute head-turning styling, crisp handling and fun-to-drive power that its owners value highly. Mini clearly understood what their owners wanted when they designed the new Cooper.” Areas in which the MINI Cooper led the segment include:
* Exterior Styling
* Handling
* Power and Acceleration
* Safety Features
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Posted by Ed Kim on November 19, 2008 at 10:30 am
Underscoring the eco-friendly theme of the LA Auto Show (and arguably many other auto shows over the last few years), MINI unveiled an all-electric version that will be available to 500 lucky individuals and companies. Called MINI e, this plug-in electric car uses advanced lithium ion batteries that will provide good range (for an electric) along with the sort of peppy performance expected from the brand.
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Posted by Dan Hall on March 22, 2008 at 4:33 am
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The next time someone calls my Cooper S “cute” I think I’ll commit a felony. While I understand the sentiment, it misses most of what a MINI is.
At the New York Auto Show Jim McDowell, Vice President – Marketing, MINI USA introduced the John Cooper Works MINI to North America with a reminder that MINI has racing in it’s blood, including Monte Carlo Rally wins in 1964, 1965, 1967. John Cooper has been synonymous with the high-performance MINIs for forty years. Earlier this year, MINI acquired John Cooper Works JCW as a sub brand of MINI.
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Posted by Dan Hall on November 16, 2007 at 10:06 am
Continuing its tongue-in-cheek marketing party MINI USA unveiled the 2008 MINI Clubman at the Los Angeles Auto Show. In true self-deprecating MINI style, the diminutive wagon
backed onto the stage, showing off its rear barn doors to the enthusiastic press. Vice President of MINI James O’Donnell led the tour of MINI’s latest model. (Look for VehicleVoice’s video podcast of our personal interview with James McDowell.)
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Posted by dbarrett on August 27, 2007 at 11:26 am
The newly announced MINI Clubman is more than an extension (literally) of the popular MINI Cooper REV 2. First presented to the public at Frankfurt nearly two years ago (as the Shooting Brake Concept), the Clubman incorporates a number of unique and interesting capabilities that may set it apart from the average vehicle in its class.
Overall, the vehicle is the same up front as the basic MINI hatch and remains so to the B-pillar. The large, bug-like headlights, hexagonal radiator grill, and hood design clue you in to the vehicle. From the B-pillar back, things change…
The Clubman’s body is now 9.45 inches longer than the standard MINI Cooper. The wheelbase is 3.15 inches longer. Color choices of the C-Pillar include silver, or black. The rest of the key data are very similar to that found on the standard MINI, except for some really neat new features, including:
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Posted by George Peterson on February 9, 2007 at 12:29 pm
AutoPacific’s annual survey of new car and light truck buyers includes a question about the buyers’ Overall Satisfaction with the Dealer Experience. Dealer experience includes both the sales experience and service experience. Respondents to the survey have owned their vehicles for ninety days or more so they have had the opportunity to visit the dealership to handle issues with initial quality or get their first oil change.
In AutoPacific’s 2006 Research Suite results, MINI is the highest scoring brand with 65% of MINI buyers indicating they are “Completely Satisfied” with their dealership experience. The ranking by brand is shown below:
1. 65% MINI
2. 60% Porsche
3. 59% Cadillac
4. 57% Lexus
5. 56% Jaguar
6. 55% BMW
7. 54% Lincoln
8. 53% Saturn
9. 52% Mercury
9. 52% Land Rover
The remainder of the brands are shown below the fold.
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Posted by cameron on January 23, 2007 at 4:55 pm
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The more things change the more they stay the same. If there was ever a saying the sums up the launch of the brand new Mini, that would be it. Some might joke, “Where’s the new Mini?” while standing right next to it, but it’s important to remember that there is hardly a more difficult task for a automotive design team than creating an entirely new car, that looks the same as the old model.
That was the challenge put before cheif Mini designer Bert Hildebrand. When David Barrett met him for an exclusive interview at the North American Auto Show in Detroit this month, you couldn’t tell that he’d just finished a grueling redesign. In fact, Hildebrand is as cheerful and charming as the car he’s helped recreate. Barrett not only chats Hildebrand up about the new Mini, but gives you a first look at the all new John Cooper Works Mini and the new Mini Sidewalk.
Show Runtime – 13:59
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