Used car dealer rebrands after legal threat from Mini

A used car dealership in Scotland has rebranded from its original Mini World name to INI World after BMW Group’s lawyers claimed its Mini branding had breached its copyright.

The dealership, in Kilmarnock, was opened in December 2022 by Bridgend Motor Group to exclusively stock used Mini cars, but soon received a legal letter from BMW Group.

It asked the dealership to remove the Mini logo from signage its flags and its website.

The showroom’s frontage featured white lettering on black background and chevrons, similar to those used by Mini franchisees.

Initially the business thought it could solve the issue at a low cost by crossing out the ‘Ms’ in Mini and changing the ‘I’ to lower case, plus adding emojis, but after more correspondence from BMW it has now rebranded as iNi World.

It stated on social media: “We will continue to sell used Minis regardless of what our signs say. Bridgend Motor Group is proudly independent and we have been here in Ayrshire since 1930, and will be for many more years to come.”

Group sales manager Mark Hawthorn told the Daily Record: “We never thought it would be an issue, a relatively small local family-run business specialising in used Minis in a small town like Kilmarnock.”

Mini UK said: ‘Only authorized BMW Group retailers are allowed to use the MINI name and logo, and therefore Bridgend Garage Ltd was asked to cease use of these assets to prevent confusion.”