Mini Cooper models get spruced up for 2011

When the winter chill sets in, drivers’ thoughts start to turn toward spring. Perhaps it’s really not a surprise that the Mini Cooper has some spiffed-up design features for 2011 including those on the new convertibles, which are solid performers in all weather but especially loved during warmer months.

Not that the car is lagging in sales. The Mini Cooper has caught on like wildfire since it was reintroduced in the United States in 2002. Mini sold 215,000 cars in 2009, and 109,000 were sold worldwide in the first half of this year, an increase of 7.7 percent compared with the first half of last year, according to Henny Hemmes of the Auto Channel Web site.