Clubman 3rd Door Revisited

Most interesting! This (the fuel filler location, and the high costs of new crash testing) is surely the definitive reason for the previously perplexing decision to put the door on one side only, and not to switch it for LHD and RHD markets.

“…that would have required more crash testing and costs for certification in markets where the car will be sold”

how about the uk, mini’s home and biggest market? it’s kinda ridiculous that the suicide door intended for passengers to get in and out easy opens into the traffic side. should’ve left it off

The opinion by Motoring Advisor is somewhat biased considering that nobody in the LHD drive market is complaining. Had the door been on the LH side then I am sure the complaints would have been thick and fast. Someone has previously given a list of countries that have RHD and although the market size is not as big, there are numerous big and small markets affected. This raises another question – how come the Japanese car companies can come up with a cheap solution to problems like these? I have to concede that MINI is no longer a “British” car, so why MINI marketing continues to sell and promote them as such is beyond me.

My saying that the design ‘makes sense’ is not biased. It’s simply my opinion. My other comments are fact based.

I love the MINI not matter what side the clubdoor is on. I would wager ANY amount of money that it is not going to make a difference in any country. That is what makes the MINI what it is.

I would gladly order a Clubman without that novelty door to save lbs and $$.

oh yea, as far as it opening into the traffic side: What do your passengers do now? Crawl across the center console? That little side door isn’t going to open nearly as wide as the regular door.

I can’t recall the last time that I parked curb side with passengers in the car.

Remember the Saturn SC2? The last couple years it was made, it had a door just like the Clubman’s on the driver’s side onlt. No idea why.

BMW has sold more MINIs than in USA, vs. the UK since at least 2005.

I don’t see why this is so surprising to so many people. The UK is not a very large county compared to the USA in terms of population (60.5 mil vs. 302.7 mil). The main two reasons MINI was sold in larger volumes in the UK vs. USA is, firstly, brand history and secondly, population density (246/sq km vs. 31/sq km). The USA is also nominally a wealthier country, so can most definitely support a new vehicle brand that fills an empty niche (nominal GDP per capita is $43,444 in the USA vs. $35,051 in the UK). The MINI has next to no direct competition in the USA but has some extremely strong competition in the UK and most of Europe. I don’t have any hard data to back it up but intuitively I can see MINI selling 100,000 units per year in the USA within the next 6 years. I doubt MINI will see that much growth in any of their other markets.

That being said, of course MINI will cater to the US market! They would be suicidal not to. I just hope they will cater to the ACTUAL market not what they BELIEVE the market is based on what has sold here in the past. Times are changing and Americans don’t seem to want to be fed the same old pap.

Thanks for that wikipedia reference Revhed. Very interesting history of why we drive on our sides of the road. Bill Bryson should write another book on the influence of transportation.

Time will tell whether BMW’s decision to add only one clubdoor on the right side of the vehicle will either prove to be a success or a flop. I have a feeling the one sided clubdoor will be short lived.