More news on the next MINI iteration – this time from Autoweek:

Now into its fourth year, the new Mini has far exceeded BMW's expectations and strained capacity at BMW's factory here to meet demand.

Anton Heiss, managing director of BMW Oxford, says a decision will probably be made next year on how to expand production beyond the estimated 180,000 units that will be built this year. The plant was designed for about 125,000 units annually.

“If you look at the successor to the current Mini, we have to look at capacity,” says Heiss, managing director of BMW Manufacturing Ltd. “We have to investigate very seriously what we want for the future of the Mini.”

BMW will not expand beyond the current coupe and cabriolet versions of the Mini during the current generation, Heiss says. For the next generation, BMW is working on a flexible platform that could accommodate more variants, possibly including a station wagon, minivan and a two-seat roadster.

…BMW has spent €1.2 million to increase capacity of the paint shop at Oxford. The reason for that expansion was because of unexpectedly high demand for the Cooper versions of the Mini, which have a “contrast roof” painted a different color than the body and require two passes through the paint shop. The Cooper outsells the Mini One at a rate of about three to one.

“Increasing capacity for the paint shop is not so cheap,” says Heiss. “We have to investigate very seriously what we want for the future of Mini.”

One of the main reasons the Mini has been so successful is its surprise reception in the U.S. market, where it is one of the smallest cars on sale.

“At the beginning, we thought this was just a European car,” says Heiss. But the U.S. is already the second largest Mini market and will soon surpass the UK.

…”Right now they're getting good money on the options,” says Griffiths. “The prices are solid. The residual values are rock solid, and they're getting good option content on it.”

Read the entire article [link] Autoweek