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J.D. Power: Mini, Lexus again offer most satisfying sales experience

JD Power has released its annual Sales Satisfaction Index Study, and once again Mini and Lexus have taken top honors. Overall, buyers are more satisfied with the auto-buying sales experience than they were last year, with those surveyed reporting an average score of 664 points on a 1,000-point scale. That's up from 648 in 2011. Dealer satisfaction also increased by five points over last year as well.
All told, Lexus brought home an index score of 737, which was high enough to put it atop the luxury brands for the second year in a row. JD Power says Infiniti came in second in that category with a score of 728 and Cadillac rounded out the podium with it's rating of 725. Speaking of Infiniti, that brand saw the single largest jump in sales satisfaction of any brand on the survey, popping up 52 index points over 2011.
Among mass-market brands, Mini ranked highest with a score of 712, followed closely by Buick with 706 and GMC farther down the line with 683. You can check out the full press release below for more information.

Mini Rocketman concept reportedly going into production as an EV

Remember the Mini Rocketman Concept from the 2011 Geneva Motor Show? If you don’t thatÂ’s OK, as itÂ’s been almost an entire decade since Mini pulled the wraps off. Despite the massive time lapse, Mini decided to revive the concept, not just for show. The companyÂ’s finally going to put the Rocketman into production, as an electric vehicle. We've heard this before, a few years ago, but nothing was set in stone. Now it seems a decision has been made. AutoCar in Britain recently learned that the Rocketman will fulfill its premise as the companyÂ’s first subcompact city car. The production model, scheduled for 2022, will reportedly be heavily reworked and built as a joint project with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors. “WeÂ’re advancing plans for a model along the lines of the Rocketman. ItÂ’s a car we have been looking at for a long time, but to build it profitably at the price point we think customers are prepared to pay, you need a joint venture partner to share costs. Great Wall Motors has provided that opportunity with a shared electric car platform that will be used by Mini,” an anonymous “senior BMW official” was quoted as saying. The production Rocketman will retain its three-door hatchback design and is expected to serve as the manufacturerÂ’s newest entry-level model. It will be built by Great Wall Motors in Jiangsu, China, while BMW oversees the design and production with plans to sell it in all markets globally. When the Rocketman first surfaced at Geneva, it was essentially BMWÂ’s direct response to DaimlerÂ’s Smart ForFour. However, even with positive feedback from prospective customers, the project was shelved because development discussions between BMW and its initial partner, Peugeot, ended abruptly. The companies were reportedly going to share platforms and powertrains in another joint venture. In the new agreement with the Chinese company, the production model will apparently use a small-car platform used by Great Wall Motors called the Ora R1. The Peugeot-BMW project was going to use either a three-cylinder gas or diesel engine. But the new model will gain an all-electric powertrain by Spotlight Automotive as a part of BMWÂ’s massive plan to launch up to 25 new plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles by the end of 2023. One of those models is the newly released all-electric Cooper SE.

Next-gen Mini Hardtop spy shots show dramatic changes

We've seen the next-generation Mini Hardtop a few times, but under significant amounts of vinyl camouflage. But apparently Mini got careless, and someone snagged photos of a completely undisguised prototype, which were shared by Twitter user Greg Kable. While the front end is a pretty predictable update, the rear end and interior are major departures. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The face will be familiar to anyone who has seen a current Mini. The grille is quite large and composed of a large contrasting frame and a body color filler in the middle, with a couple small openings at the top and bottom. It does appear to be a bit smaller overall compared to the current model, and with a thinner frame. The headlights are still round as ever, but appear a bit larger, and now they feature little lines at the top and bottom that almost look like cute eyelids. Interestingly, the hood no longer has holes cut out for the headlights, and the cut lines are higher up. The profile, as far as we can tell, is still typical Mini. The only real change there is the replacement of the pull handles with flush-fitting units. At the back is where the major exterior changes take place. The lozenge-shaped taillights of the past are gone in favor of angular trapezoidal units. They feature black-lined overlays, and they blend into the black trim piece that stretches across the hatch. The lights appear to be a part of the hatch, too, and will likely swing up with the hatch when opened. The rear fenders look wider than before relative to the greenhouse, giving this new Mini a lower, wider appearance. This particular prototype has an S badge in what looks like a yellow-green color, so we believe this may actually be an SE electric model. Moving to the inside, the new Mini holds on to some classic design cues, but reimagines them with modern technology and a minimalist theme. The dash is dominated by a huge, thin circular display, which evokes past round displays and gauge clusters from classic and more modern Minis. There's no gauge cluster in front of the driver, either, so the center screen will likely feature driving information in addition to other infotainment functions. The driver does at least get a head-up display, so there will still be the ability to have speed and other info directly in front of the driver.