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Mini: the 50th anniversary and new models galore

By Phil McNamara Motor Industry 27 May 2009 13:14 Mini’s renaissance is entering a new phase of electric power, 4x4 crossovers and yet more bodystyles, said BMW marketing chief Ian Robertson at the British brand’s 50th birthday party. Over the last May bank holiday weekend, some 15,000 Mini fans converged on Silverstone, for a three-day festival of cars, racing and music. The company revealed three special editions: high-spec Camden and Mayfair models, plus the 211bhp World Championship 50 Edition in homage to racing team boss John Cooper.

Volkswagen aims for lofty Beetle sales

The attractive new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is expected to sell as many as 50,000 to 60,000 units a year in the United States. The car launches this fall. That level will be a big improvement over the latter years of the outgoing model, in which sales dwindled to just 15,000 a year, but it remains lower than the record figure of 83,000 achieved 18 months after the launch of the revised model.

VW Polo GTI (2010): first news and photos

Volkswagen has just issued these first photos of the new 2010 Polo GTI. It uses the 1.4-litre TSI engine with turbo- and supercharging to liberate a stocky 178bhp – enough to make the Polo GTI into a proper little pocket rocket.The first hot Polo was the supercharged G40 of 1986, but that developed a relatively weedy 112bhp. The new 2010-spec Volkswagen Polo GTI is powerful enough to hit 62mph in 6.9sec and reach a 142mph V-max.