MINI Canada Becomes Official Vehicle Sponsor of Table Tennis Canada

RICHMOND HILL, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 3, 2012) -

Editors Note: Two photos for this release are available via Marketwire on the picture wire of The Canadian Press.

MINI Canada is pleased to announce its sponsorship of Table Tennis Canada (TTCAN). Through the partnership, MINI Canada will be the official vehicle sponsor of the TTCAN Team, participating in fundraising activities, promotional tours, events, and team competitions. MINI made the announcement today at the Vancouver International Auto Show with the support of Andre Ho and Shirley Fu, members of the Canadian Table Tennis team, and Tony Kiesenhofer, director general, Table Tennis Canada.

"I love this partnership. It is a truly great relationship for MINI to cultivate," said Adam Shaver, director, MINI Canada. "In itself, it is unexepected and fun, just like our brand. It also allows us to help out a team of enthusiastic, motivated athletes. MINI is dedicated to supporting and promoting young talent, and this enables us to do just that with Table Tennis Canada."

Through the sponsorship, MINI will provide a brand-new special edition 2012 MINI Cooper Knightsbridge for fundraising activities and eventual raffle. All proceeds will support the team in its efforts to make the Canadian Olympic Team and head to London, England this summer.

"Our athletes look forward to this partnership which will provide some much needed funds for their preparation for this summer's Olympic Games and beyond. We have a young and dedicated team and are in somewhat of an underdog position for London. However, our top players have just come off a number of excellent wins against some of the toughest competition in the world - this bodes well for the team competition in London. The association with MINI is a great fit; speed, power and agility are key ingredients for success in table tennis, we also associate these characteristics with MINI cars. A great fit, indeed," said Tony Kiesenhofer, director general, Table Tennis Canada.

Table Tennis Canada strives to build a high-performance environment that supports Canadian table tennis athletes, advancing player expertise and building and maintaining a nation-wide Canadian competition system. Table tennis is a unique and fun sport requiring technical, practical, and social expertise, traits that MINI supports and are true to the characteristics of the brand.

BMW Group in Canada

BMW Group Canada, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG and is responsible for the distribution of BMW luxury performance automobiles, Sports Activity Vehicles, Motorcycles, and MINI. BMW Group Financial Services Canada is a division of BMW Group Canada and offers retail financing and leasing programs and protection products on new and pre-owned BMW and MINI automobiles, as well as retail financing for new and pre-owned BMW Motorcycles. A total network of 44 BMW automobile retail centres, 20 BMW motorcycle retailers, and 29 MINI retailers represents the BMW Group across the country.