MINI TAKES THE STATES 2010 - THE RALLY IS ON

Woodcliff Lake, NJ,  May 11, 2010. Contact: Nathalie Bauters
MINI Communications Manager
201-930-3166
nathalie.bauters@miniusa.com

PFPR Communications
Yvonne Malmgren, 586-453-2912
yvonne.malmgren@pfpr.com

MINI USA has confirmed that “MINI TAKES THE STATES” (MTTS) is officially on for August 2010. The MINI community is invited to celebrate owning a MINI with thousands of their fellow enthusiasts by joining a caravan across the U.S. to Denver, Colorado, where they will enjoy a weekend-long festival of MINI activities. MTTS 2010 will drive through a total of 19 states, covering more than 8,000 miles of road and is expected to bring together as many as 10,000 participants.

All MINI owners are invited to register at www.minitakesthestates.com (beginning on May 18) to drive with the MINI team to Denver from one of five kickoff cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco. Owners may also join the caravans as they make their way across the map; or they can spend a few hours at one of the many designated stops along the routes to mingle with drivers, enjoy parties and meet the newest addition to the MINI family – MINI Countryman.

“MINI owners have much more than just a car,” said Jim McDowell, Vice President, MINI USA. “When they join the MINI family, owners become part of a passionate community that offers camaraderie and fun driving experiences that have become a core part of the MINI brand.”

On August 13, all of the caravans will arrive in Denver, where MTTS participants will enjoy three days of MINI fun, including a music festival, MINI-Cross driving challenges, a road rally in and around Denver, games for the family and a vendor village where participants can stock up on MINI gear for themselves and their vehicle.

The MINI community as a whole is dedicated to giving back. In addition to the cross-country drive and the festival in Denver, two key charitable efforts will be part of this year’s program. First, blood drives for the American Red Cross will be hosted in Denver as well as each of the kickoff cities. Plus, a portion of every registration fee will be donated to the Leukemia Society in the name of Ryan Marie Boykin, a passionate young MINI enthusiast who lost her battle with Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2007, but whose adventurous spirit lives on through the project known as “Ryan’s MINI Adventure” (http://www.ryansminiadventure.com/RYANS_STORY.html).

MINI in the US
MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC which has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 95 MINI passenger car dealers, and 31 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at: www.bmwgroupna.com
  Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address: www.press.bmwna.com. Additional information, images and video may be found at www.miniusanews.com. Broadcast quality video footage is available via The NewsMarket at www.thenewsmarket.com.