JUST over a year since the launch of the new MINI, the 100,000th car has rolled off the production line at the BMW Group Plant in Oxford.

The car, a MINI Cooper S, is one of more than 4,000 Cooper S models already ordered by UK customers before the 163bhp supercharged MINI goes on sale in the UK on Saturday.

In the UK, more than 25,000 MINI One and MINI Cooper models have been sold. Driving the Cooper S off the production line, Dr Herbert Diess, managing director of BMW Group Plant Oxford, said: 'It is great to reach this important production milestone on schedule thanks to the tremendous efforts of our employees.

'The reaction to the MINI has been astonishing and we are working seven days a week to meet customer demand.'