Next year, MINI will turn its focus to the original with a full third-generation design. Then, the various variants will be released yearly, much like MINI has done over the past few years. Models like the Clubman, Countryman, Coupe and Roadster have been added to keep interest fresh.
BMW has shown no hesitance in approving model after model – many of them overlapping. Buyers have lapped each one up. Edmunds Inside Line reports that BMW isn’t finished yet, with a further expansion in the works. We’ve already heard that a five-door hatchback was on the docket for the next-generation model, something that will add a significant amount of sales volume.That isn’t all though – the lineup could be expanding to 10 models in total.
What else is there left to add? Well, there’s the five-door, but also potentially a sedan, sports car, another crossover and a smaller MINI. The smaller MINI would be a model in the vein of the Rocketman Concept, a truly mini MINI that would be similar to the late 1950s original.
The sports car would be a competitor to the Mazda MX-5 – we thought the Coupe and Roadster were the competitors to that? As for a crossover, the Countryman has already gotten howls from purists about being too large and too heavy. Mini board member Harald Kreuger sees it differently though.
“A lot of customers would like to stay with the brand when they need something bigger,” says Kreuger, “and a Volvo or a BMW will not do.” All Minis will have “go-kart handling, emotional design, exude Britishness and be profitable,” he adds. BMW is extending the limits of its own brand by producing front-wheel drive vehicles, and it appears they will be doing the same thing with MINI. It’s going to get a ridiculous if we begin to see models bigger than the Countryman wearing the “MINI” badge though.
