Mini Thinks a Cute Virtual Assistant is Key to Making You Love Smart Cars

From man's best friend to in-car virtual assistant. Mini is planning to introduce its new in-car virtual assistant, designed with a little more personality than your typical voice-activated system. Named Spike, Mini's digital assistant is modeled after an English bulldog that was introduced with Mini's rebranding in 2001. Now, the virtual dog is evolving beyond just a mascot and is making its official debut as Mini's in-car personal assistant in a conceptual vehicle. Instead of the dry and robotic responses we usually get from Siri or Alexa, Mini wanted something more personable. And what's more personable than an adorable bulldog?…