What's wrong with the MINI?

[MeanStreak]

The execs were surprised when the MINI scored below average on J.D. Power & Associates annual survey of initial quality. Jack Pitney, MINI USA general manager, told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit, that the key reason for the score was the lack of an adequate cup holder. The lack of a good cup holder has been the number one complaint about the cars, though there also is a vocal minority of MINI owners who think the car should be equipped with a rear-facing fog lamp. The fog lamp is on its way, Pitney said, but the cup holder will have to wait for the next redesign. However, MINI is providing owners a special coffee cup that fits into the existing cup holder. "You can have your (tall) latte and drive a MINI too," Pitney said. :blink:

 

[jeffreyewe]

Originally posted by MTek1318@Oct 12 2005, 11:50 AM
The execs were surprised when the MINI scored below average on J.D. Power & Associates annual survey of initial quality. Jack Pitney, MINI USA general manager, told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit, that the key reason for the score was the lack of an adequate cup holder. The lack of a good cup holder has been the number one complaint about the cars, though there also is a vocal minority of MINI owners who think the car should be equipped with a rear-facing fog lamp. The fog lamp is on its way, Pitney said, but the cup holder will have to wait for the next redesign. However, MINI is providing owners a special coffee cup that fits into the existing cup holder. "You can have your (tall) latte and drive a MINI too," Pitney said.

:blink:

Americans :dunno: :rofl: :dunno: :rofl:

 

[MeanStreak]

Can you solve this puzzle?

 

[jeffreyewe]

Originally posted by MTek1318@Oct 12 2005, 12:26 PM
Can you solve this puzzle?

Buzz Mini aka Bas mini k:

 

[MeanStreak]

Originally posted by jeffreyewe+Oct 12 2005, 02:11 PM-->QUOTE (jeffreyewe @ Oct 12 2005, 02:11 PM)

 

[jeffreyewe]

Originally posted by MTek1318+Oct 12 2005, 02:57 PM-->QUOTE (MTek1318 @ Oct 12 2005, 02:57 PM)

Originally posted by jeffreyewe@Oct 12 2005, 02:11 PM

 

[c-square]

faulted on cup holder??? What's wrong with those people? :aggressive:

 

[MeanStreak]

Originally posted by jeffreyewe+Oct 12 2005, 02:58 PM-->QUOTE (jeffreyewe @ Oct 12 2005, 02:58 PM)

Originally posted by MTek1318@Oct 12 2005, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by jeffreyewe@Oct 12 2005, 02:11 PM

 

[MeanStreak]

Mini designer Frank Stephenson explains what a can of Budweiser and the new MINI have in common:

"We worked a number of 24-hour days trying to get the full-sized clay model completed for presentation to the board of directors," says Stephenson. "So when we finished the job with just hours to spare, I thought it appropriate that the team have a beer or two to celebrate. That's when I spotted the problem."

That problem was the complete absence of an exhaust tip on the otherwise complete clay. Thinking quickly, Stephenson stripped the paint from his beer can, punched a hole in the bottom, and fixed it in place on the model.

"The review went off without a hitch," he says, "and the board told me not to change a thing. Imagine the difficulty I had communicating the specifications of the exhaust to the supplier, without telling him to go copy the sides and bottom of a beer can. I didn't tell them until much, much later."

However, this wasn't Stephenson's only problem with this design. It wasn't long before he was called on the carpet by his boss at BMW. "It wasn't the shape," he says, "everybody liked it because it was unique yet oddly familiar. He was concerned that I had wasted a modeler's time milling the piece when his time could be better spent elsewhere. That was when I felt the need to confess."

That confession got him stunned silence followed by nearly uncontrollable laughter.