8:22 am, December 10, 2012
MINI came up with a novel way of highlighting its finance offers this month – by handing Londoners the keys to Minis for 26p per hour.
Based on a contract hire rate of £169 per month for a Cooper hatchback model, the firm decided to split that into a more manageable chunk as part of its publicity stunt, mimicking the ‘Boris bike’ hire-by-the-hour scheme.
Londoners were invited to walk up to one of the specially designed ticket machines, insert their money and take the car for a one-hour drive accompanied by a member of Mini staff.
‘My mission is to make MINIs more affordable for the masses, so I’m delighted to launch the MINI Fun Hire Service today, ’ commented a Mini spokesman, named only the ‘Mini-ster of finance’.
‘The research showed that Londoners in particular could do with little bit of fun in their lives so I hope that a zip across town in a MINI Cooper will bring some much needed pre-Christmas cheer.’
The scheme took place in the West End of London and ran for just one day. It’s unknown if Mini plans to repeat the event in other cities.
