As the 500,000th new-style Mini rolled off the UK production line yesterday, BMW said the car would not be a "one model wonder".

The Mini, the legacy of the Munich-based carmaker's oth erwise troubled ownership of Rover, is two years ahead of initial targets as the company hailed its success.

Some 174,300 Minis rolled off the production line at Cowley, near Oxford, last year, with the group looking to at least equal that figure this year," said Mini UK general manager Trevor Houghton-Berry.

"We have arrived at this production point around two years ahead of schedule, which shows how fantastically successful the car has been.

"The car seems to go from strength to strength and there is no sign of our order book dropping off at all."

Work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith, who was at the ceremony to mark the Mini production milestone, described the car as a symbol of the success of British manufacturing. "This is a great day not just for the local labour force in Oxford but also for the country as a whole," he said.

Some analysts have queried BMW's involvement with the Mini, arguing that it does not make the same margins as the higher-value BMW models. BMW does not give a break down of profit figures but says every sale is profitable and the car meets the internal financial targets.

The parent company said the Mini "will be developed for the next generation".

The new Mini, launched in 2001, still has some way to go to match the success of the original model which made its debut in 1959. More than 5m of the original version were made before production was halted in 2000 to make way for the bigger, more powerful model.