SELL SMALL!(BMW of North America to reintroduce the Mini Cooper)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Advertising Age, April, 2001

BMW of North America will start selling the small, retro-looking Mini Cooper next March. The car's first-year ad budget will live up to the vehicle's name, at $4 million to $5 million. That's because Jack Pitney, general manager of Mini, plans a lot of non-traditional marketing in the forms of sponsorships and promotions.

He's pictured here in a postcard visitors to the Detroit auto show could print out. BMW predicts first-year sales in the U.S. will be 20,000 units. Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Miami, won the U.S. account, which will jump to $25 million in 2003. The car was last sold in the U.S. in 1967. The Mini's Web site (miniusa.com) went live several months ago.