Comments on: BMW’s New City Car to Not be Branded MINI?

By: MotoringFile » Archive » Next MINI to Use Future BMW Three & Four Cylinder Engines

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:28:45 +0000

[...] level. We wouldn’t be surprised to see something along those lines pop-up in conjunction with BMW’s Megacity project (which, as a side note, sources have confirmed to us won’t be marketed as a MINI – at least [...]

By: SFRedMCc

SFRedMCc — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:31:10 +0000

To me this concept is more like a cheap “micro car” which is what the original Isetta was, so that is a better name for it. I consider the MINI to be a small, efficient performance car, with premium features, and this is just a basic “econobox”. If it has to be a MINI, then name it a “MINI Micro”

By: robble

robble — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:06:39 +0000

At least it has a bulldog stance.

By: Mark Smith

Mark Smith — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:52:38 +0000

Bring back the Isetta.

By: Timothy

Timothy — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:51:13 +0000

Or BMW could just buy Aptera and call the car Aptera.

By: Rakey

Rakey — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:14:25 +0000

It wouldn't be the first time that BMW have made a small, power efficient town car to meet the cheaper end of the market.

Maybe this will carry the Isetta badge

By: GregW

GregW — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:19:38 +0000

Youre on the money JonPD. Take a look at the new Z4 and see how that has grown in size. Call it an Iseta as this name is already BMWs. Given GMs situation right now you will be soon assembling and driving Australian Holden Commodores aka Pontias as a smaller V8 car – http://zeusville.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/holden-commodore-ss-aka-pontiac-g8/

By: JonPD

JonPD — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:46:08 +0000

Well I for one classify a Mini as being a small car, so kinda sad news as these likely means the BMW driven ever increasing weight and size is likely to continue to run Mini for the foreseeable future.

By: gokartride

gokartride — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:23:37 +0000

I’ve always liked the 2-door Spiritual.

By: James Irmiger

James Irmiger — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:55:56 +0000

I really hope that with this news, MINI goes back to focusing on class-leading performance. I’m a little disappointed that so many other small cars have caught up with MINI in this department.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:35:17 +0000

@dr: I wouldn't use the Smart Car as an example for the failure of micro-cars in the US. Other than being a cheap car, The Smart is a failure on it's own.

From what I hear about real world mileage, ride, transmission and build quality what you are trading in size doesn't really get you much unless you just want to be seen in one.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:15:10 +0000

My guess is that these wont be sold in the USA anyway, so nobody should get to interested in this car.

Spoken like a true 'Merican :) Since this is very much an international site I'd say it's of interest to many readers.

By: dr

dr — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:12:09 +0000

My guess is that these wont be sold in the USA anyway, so nobody should get to interested in this car. BMW may need to compete in the microcar segment in Europe and Asia but not so much over here. Americans may move toward smaller cars but not small cars. If the smart is any indication, they will not hit the market at an reasonable price point. People who want effeciency here will have plenty of B cars to chose from for about the same money.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:10:07 +0000

GOOD!!! This is good news as just because BMW makes a small gas sipping car it doesn’t make it a MINI.

By: KipperFillets

KipperFillets — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:59:42 +0000

Here in the UK, most small hatchbacks are touted as the next 'New Supermini', so unless it really looks like a MINI, the name's already been partly hijacked by other manufacturers.

I hope this doesn't mean that the MINI-E is just an experiment, and that BMW will put their efforts into something like the sketch above when it comes to producing a fuel-efficient car.