The Cowley built Mini continued to buck the trend in UK new car sales in November with 4,411 cars sold — up 2.23 per cent on the same month last year when 3,117 cars were sold.

Year-on-year Mini sales in 2011 to date are up 17.23 per cent over the same period in 2010, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

This contrasts with the overall UK new car market which was down 4.18 per cent in November, with 134,027 cars sold compared with 139,875 in the same month last year, and 4.46 per cent down during the year to date (at 1,822,065 compared with 1,907,029).