STORY:

Following our announcement of official confirmation of a recall on all existing customer MINI's this morning we have now spoken to MINI UK General Manager Trevor Houghton-Berry to get some facts and put to rest a few rumours.

First of all, this is a problem your dealer can and will fix for you. If own a new MINI, and have not been contacted by your dealer yet, please give them a call, and they can fill you in. Your dealer should have the required parts Tuesday or Wednesday and the fix is a 25 minute job. The 'fix' is merely the addition of a small grounding wire. The car will NOT have to be returned to the plant.

Secondly production has not stopped, MINI's are still rolling down the line. Of course there will be a small delay as all cars without the new part will require them retrofitting, but this will no not be a major delay. It will be business as usual by the end of the week.

For those of you who have a car at your dealer awaiting collection, your MINI should be ready to collect by the end of this week. Please consult your dealer if you require any assistance due to this delay. Mr Houghton-Berry said he understands how difficult this must be, especially with many people waiting for the new registrations, and assured MINI2 that your MINI dealer would do all they can to assist you.

The spark was produced on one car only during testing at the Oxford plant, and was caused by a build up of static electricity. When I asked if the ignited fumes could return into the petrol pipe and ignite the fuel in the tank, Mr Houghton-Berry assured me this was entirely not possible, there is no risk what so-ever of exploding MINI's.

The story of 'special paint' being used to discharge the static is a complete fabrication, and simply not true.

The Euro launch this Weekend should be unaffected by this problem.

MINI2 would like to thank Trevor Houghton-Berry for taking time to clear the situation up, and we hope this will put some minds at rest.

Article by MINI2.