12 November 2002: BMW sales have bucked the general global industry trend again, rising by almost a fifth in the first 10 months of this year to 891,000 units. A company spokesman says the new MINI (above) is responsible for a significant part of the boost.

Sales in October alone rose 9 per cent to 85,300.

Meanwhile, rival Mercedes-Benz says it sold 1,500 fewer cars globally over the 10-month period, but increased its share ofn a shrinking market.