BMW Working on MINI-based Car?

A front wheel drive vehicle wearing the BMW propeller? What the world has come to?

I am afraid that BMW is providing the answer to a question no one is asking, that is, if these rumors prove to be true at some point or another.

So assuming that this BMW Series “0″ is in the works, you have to wonder about the inevitable market impact this car can have on the MINI brand. After all it will be a MINI chassis wearing a BMW body wrapper.

I think BMW needs to distance themselves from the binge of badge engineering that has plagued General Motors, Ford and others in the past 30 years.

You could say the glass is half full or half empty, depending from your point of view, but I think a FWD BMW slotted below the 1 series (Which has the potential to draw away MINI customers) and so uncomfortably close to the MINI itself, is simply a very crumbly business decision and could affect MINI in a very negative way.

Sometimes I think that BMW is losing it, really. BMW should stick to high/higher end sporty RWD cars and crossovers. Let MINI be the outlet to satisfy the needs of the front wheel drive/Premium small car segment.

The only instance where a FWD series “0″ BMW would make some sense, is to sell it in countries where the MINI is not available. Those customers will get the taste of the R56 prowess but on a BMW body.

In all and all, it is a crazy idea. Maybe I am missing the point. But let MINI be MINI and BMW be BMW.

Unless, BMW wants to be generous and supply a suitable RWD platform as the basis of a uber exotic MINI vehicle.

:)

Very interesting proposition nevertheless.

-Nigel

And lest not forget that the R56, for all practical purposes, is pretty much a Bimmer under the skin and wearing a MINI shaped body. ;-)

Awesome! they could call it — the R56!

uuuhh THAT wouldn’t make sense. It’s like BMW competing against itself….BMW already has the MINI, why build another car under the BMW brand to compete with it? It would be like Coca-Cola doing a new lime soda based on Sprite.

No way, but we could see BMW come out of the closet and add a roundel to the MINI wings & sell it through BMW dealers.

Here I go again – the BMW-isation of MINI. I hope Chris Bangle doesn’t design it! Talk about an about face of years and years of rear-wheel-drive technology being the Bmw-all and end-all. Didn’t the X5 get morphed from a Range Rover when they owned it?

Well, they are crazy enough to do the 1 series which is just a tiny bit smaller than the 3 series and will probably be much cheaper and cannibalize tons of 3 sales.

The 0 Series?

Sounds like a reasonable product for some markets, maybe not the US, though. I saw many, many small Mercedes in Northern Europe earlier this month, and quite a few BMW 1′s, too. While the MINI is a premium car, the comments I heard were that the MINI is too expensive for its size. A small BMW that easily holds four would compete well.

Also, Euro automakers are coming under increasing pressure to improve fuel efficiency, which supports the idea of more product in the small size space.

Yes Beken – didn’t BMW buy Rover (including Mini) and LandRover to get the 4-w-d technology then sell off Land Rover to Ford when the X5 was released? So the fear is that BMW will sell MINI off after developing their own model. Previous posts have already indicated that BMW needs to sell MINI platforms etc to try and make a bigger buck. Worldwide there does seem to be pockets of anti-BMW MINI by Classic Mini owners and clubs. This was probably fuelled at the beginning by BMW not wanting to “know” anything to do with old Mini. We have now seen an about face by BMW. It would have been better if BMW had integrated old Mini parts and service into the new MINI structure.

BMW 0.5 Series

Lowest end of the line with the smallest engine: BMW 0.520

Higher end of the line with the engine from the 3 series: BMW 0.528

M version BMW M1/2