Sales for the BMW Mini soared 33.9%, to 26,400 cars, for the first half of 2008 in the U.S., and the British brand is preparing to launch its first electric vehicles here in 2009 -- and a small crossover utility vehicle not long after. Mini will add 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles to the allotment its U.S. dealers get this year. Mini would also like to offer a diesel engine if it can develop one that gets at least 50 m.p.g. on the highway in EPA tests and meets strict emissions standards in California and northeast states, says Jim McDowell, …

Reacting to what it sees as a rapid and permanent shift in consumer preferences, Ford plans to announce Thursday that it is drastically altering its focus and will build more small cars. Among the changes, it reportedly will announce that it is converting three of its North American assembly plants from trucks to cars, according to people familiar with the plans. Ford also will realign factories to manufacture more fuel-efficient engines and produce six of its next European car models for the United States market. And it will end speculation about its Mercury division by making the brand an …

A new marketing effort for Swiffer kicks off today and includes three TV spots and a larger online media buy that emphasizes Swiffer's value over traditional cleaning tools. Tagline: "Cleans better than a mop and bucket or your money back." This is the first time Procter & Gamble has offered a money-back guarantee on Swiffer, says Pete Carter, advertising development director for the brand. It's in response to what the company saw as a looming recession. "We knew that our potential consumers were going to be concerned about the value of their dollar and what they were purchasing," Carter …

A commercial that shows a young man confronted by two pits bulls when he tries to obtain Verizon's LG Dare phone by climbing a junkyard fence has infuriated groups from the Humane Society of the U.S. -- which has asked Verizon to pull the ad -- to PETA, the ASPCA and dozens of pet-related websites. The dogs, with cropped ears and metal choke collars, bark ferociously and lunge at the intruder. Kathy Bauch, senior director-corporate relations and promotion at the Humane Society, says the ad could further inflame an already outstanding prejudice against pit bulls and "perpetuates the idea …

Corporations that own the rights to some of the television characters most popular with kids -- Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder and Hannah Montana, for example -- have been sending cease-and-desist letters, threatening lawsuits and in some cases receiving settlements from companies that market unauthorized character impersonators at venues like kids' birthday parties. Some companies in the costume industry hire lawyers to advise them on how to stay out of trouble. Others are commissioning costumes that only slightly resemble characters owned by media companies. They have names like "Big Red Tickle Monster," instead of Elmo, and "Explorer Girl …

In partnership with Amazon.com, TiVo will introduce a "product purchase" feature today that will allow owners of its video recorders to see, in its onscreen menus, links to buy products like CDs, DVDs and books that guests are promoting on talk shows like "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "The Daily Show." TiVo also plans to begin offering this feature to advertisers and programmers, so that the chance to buy products and have them delivered will be presented to viewers during commercials and even alongside product placements during live shows. If a viewer chooses to buy an advertised item …