My Paceman was built in Austria by BMW, is it still a 'British' car?

 

Why does it matter to you?

 

As a Brit I can tell you, it doesn't get much British than that.

 

At this point I don't consider it a British car. They are rapidly becoming BMW's with different skins.

 

Is a Toyota not Japanese because it was built in Texas, Indiana or Canada?

Is a Volkswagen not a German car because it was built in Mexico, Tennessee, or Sri Lanka ?

Is a Chevy any less American because it was built by the folks in Mexico ?

Are Armani Suits any less Italian since they are stitched in Turkey or Jordan ?

It is what it is...a Global Economy.

 

^ good points

 

Eurothrasher your examples are of cars made by companies who are based in the country's that the car has its identity. Mini is owned by a German company, not the same at all.

 

Correct. Isn't a car (Mini Cooper) owned by a German company (BMW) still considered a German car if it's built in a different country?

 

BMW hires people to design the Mini (i know a woman who designed the interior was from Barcelona), most of their key parts are subcontracted to companies like Korean company MANDO, and BMW put the things together, sometimes they even subcontract that too!



There are very few recognizable brands who market, design and build, sometimes they dont even do any of that! Companies like Stanley Black let others use their name to OEM for royalties.



I think we can all agree, its a silly argument

 

Silly argument for sure.

A friend of mine has a 918. Over a million dollar car. Many of his parts that he has taken off to cover in carbon fiber are made in China.

It really is the origin of the automobile, design, testing etc that seems to matter.

 

They're based on the old British design and some are built in the uk too. I'm glad there's some German engineering mixed in there cos we really dropped the ball when it came to manufacturing cars.

 

Born in the UK.
Built in Austria.
Driven in the USA!
Can't get much better than that!

 

I consider them both British and German. British design with German engineering.

 

Wasn't MINI owned by Rover, a British company that was then sold to BMW? Wouldn't that imply British?

 

The tendency to leak copious amount of oil suggests yes.

 

Hehehehe

 

Yes. Its was owned by rover who sold it to BMW group.

 

So basically British-ish with a Bairisch-ish accent. I'm totally glad BMW was able to purchase and continue the production of Mini. These cars have their issues, but it's small and tight and drives like nothing else. It's a win-win for people that love to drive small cars.

Turned out to be a way better outcome than not having Mini around anymore, which could have been the other not so great scenario.

I kinda made sure there was more than just the MINI name on the emblems to hint at my car's lineage...




I was super fortunate to get to live in southern Germany over 4 years and was able to visit England for a good period of time. Both places have an abundance of fun folks full of interesting character, and in this case, it's nice to be driving a car with a good mix of both countries' flavor. It's in there. An interesting mix, and brilliant for sure.

 

how about a "classic" that was built in any one of (and this list is incomplete):
new zealand
italy
spain
chile
south africa

are they 'british'?

 

They built classic Minis in Japan too.

 

I have license plates with the American Flag on them. When I put them on, I said, I am putting my American Flag license plates on my German built British car. What a car is truly identified as is not as clear as it was 40 years ago. Parts are made all over, sub assemblies are made all over, and the sum of the parts becomes a car built somewhere. A car is what you want it to be based on whatever facts you decide to use. As said earlier, it is a global market and technology is grabbed as companies merge or share platforms. Nothing is 100% pure anything.

 

I would say that any MINI in BRG is definitely British!

 

 

Most of us know that Sir Alec Issigonis was the brilliant engineer that came up the the original Mini for the British Motor Corporation in England. If you look up Sir Alec's life story (Wikipedia will do for a quick read) you'll find interesting resemblances in Issigonis' "Britishness" and the current Mini's "Britishness". If anyone can figure out how Sir Alec was British knowing his parental lineage and considering where he was actually born, more power to you. Even his birthplace was fluid... the Greek port city of Smyrna at the time, which is now Izmir, Turkey. It's all pretty convoluted.

Anyway, if you read Sir Alec's life story on Wiki, you'll find that the twists in familial ties through his German mother include being a first cousin once removed from one instrumental BMW CEO (1993-1999) named Bernd Pischetsrieder. Bernd was the guy responsible for BMW's purchase of the Mini brand and its continuation on the world market today.

So, considering the roots of both developer and developee, Mini heritage has to be totally British, sort of, no matter what color it's painted.

As an aside and excellent current example of our increasingly global marketplace, our second generation Mini's manual transmission is from German Getrag, which was bought last year by Magna International of Canada. Getrag is still a German company, but now with a Canadian parent.