MINI wins 2003 North American COTY
05 January 2003: DETROIT SHOW - The BMW MINI has been awarded the title of '2003 North American Car of the Year'.
The award, given by a group of 50 full-time automotive journalists from Canada and the United States, was presented to Jack Pitney, general manager of MINI USA at a breakfast ceremony during the Detroit motor show today.
The award recognizes the most outstanding vehicle of the year based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.
This award comes after MINI was awarded 4 stars by both the NHTSA and the IIHS for crashworthiness, named the most appealing compact car in J D Power and Associates 2002 APEAL study, Best Total Value by strategic Vision, and "Most Significant Vehicle of the Year, 2002" by the editorial staff at Edmunds.com.
The original Classic Mini was sold in the U.S from 1960-1967. MINI made its reentry into the U.S. market in March 2002 with the all-new MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S. The shortest cars on American roads have a 2003 starting price of $16.975. MINI has sold over 24,000 units in North America since its 2002 relaunch, more than double classic Mini's eight year 1960s sales total.