Small wonder

"It's a Mini adventure," say the ads, and it has certainly been a highly profitable one for BMW, now the proprietors of the Mini brand and the factory in Oxford where it is built. The new Mini is doing so well that BMW is to spend £100m expanding production to cope with demand for this revamped icon.

"It's a Mini adventure," say the ads, and it has certainly been a highly profitable one for BMW, now the proprietors of the Mini brand and the factory in Oxford where it is built. The new Mini is doing so well that BMW is to spend £100m expanding production to cope with demand for this revamped icon.

An important part of the Mini's appeal is its "Britishness" (it can even be specified with a Union Jack roof), and the efforts of the workforce and the skill of the BMW management look like ensuring that it stays that way. Five years after its Rover debacle, BMW's adventure in Britain is having a happy ending.