Spied: 2015 Clubman Inside-Out
[Autoblog](http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/06/mini-clubman-spy-shots/) managed to get their hands on a fresh new set of spy photos of the 2015 Clubman. The most interesting bit from this release is the interior shot. It confirms what we announced on [MotoringFile back in May of last year](https://www.motoringfile.com/2014/05/15/mf-exclusive-photos-details-on-the-new-mini-convertible-clubman-five-door-hatch/), with the extra width of the F54 allowing MINI designers to have a fresh take on the interior. This exclusive interior variant boasts a number of features not found in the Hardtop, including:
– Square air vents as opposed to the round and square combination currently in use
– Different HVAC controls and toggle designs
– Electronic parking brake
Unfortunately, these pictures do not tell the entire story and to quote Gabe:
>Our sources also indicate that the rear console allows for heating and cooling vents to fit between the front seats and aim at the rear passengers. And speaking of those passengers, the extra width allows for a true three person bench seat – decidedly wider than the current Countryman or the upcoming F55 five door hatch. With this new Clubman, we also expect MINI to introduce an all digital instrument package option that would replace the analog dials in front of the driver.
Going to back to the exterior, these new spy shots also confirm the deviation from the current F56/F55 front bumper with a design made less jarring. It also would appear to follow BMW’s air curtain and air breather system.
Again, head over to [Autoblog](http://www.autoblog.com/2015/01/06/mini-clubman-spy-shots/) for a detailed look at these shots.
<p>I am not loving the no round air vents on the dash but that will fade I imagine. The electronic brake is likely inevitable, and goes with the new center console… I hope the air flow will be enough coming to the back seat, some cars with air vents between the front seats are pretty much for looks I have found…</p>
<p>Dash and console looking more and more like any other car.</p>
<p>We are being fed that it’s a good thing.
Glaringly obvious that Connected is necessary – yikes!</p>
<p>As is the exterior. With the loss of the 5-door configuration and the cool vertical stacked tail lights this Clubbie is looking rather conventional to me.</p>
<p>taillights will be horizontal like the Paceman</p>
<p>I know, that was my point.</p>
<p>I’m liking it. The interior looks pretty MINI to me too. Except for NO NORMAL PARKING BRAKE! That’s really a bummer. I personally can’t stand electronic parking brakes as they whir and whir off. I though MINI would always be the hold out on that one but the packaging on the larger UKL must dictate it. The interior will look much better with production trim/materials too. The cupholders are back to traditional BMW Group soda cans too. Unless USA gets a modified center console.</p>
<p>After driving a Cooper F55 this past weekend, I’m really looking forward to the F54. It felt like a MINI accelerating around on ramps. That turbo 3 really cooks.</p>
<p>No more handbrake turns thanks to the electronic handbrake..</p>
<p>It’s doable.</p>
<p>On the Nissan we’ve got you’re only able to apply it when the car isn’t moving. Nor can you balance it, either on or off. Maybe the BMW system is different..</p>
<p>Doable perhaps, but not nearly as controllable. Somehow, the idea of watching Mark Wahlberg using a stupid little switch to race through the city streets while fleeing Edward Norton’s ‘copter just doesn’t cut the mustard. I see this as a microcosm of the continuing drift away from the rally heritage design elements that gave the early MINIs much of their appeal and what initially attracted me to the brand. Quite sad.</p>
<p>Too much listening to customer surveys and over obsession with sales growth. Same stupid strategy as BMW themselves.</p>
<p>I wonder if the front end of the F54 will resemble the F56 LCI. This could very well be my next car. I moved from an 2006 MCS to a 2010 Clubman, then to a Countryman when child number two arrived. I’m sure i’d prefer the driving dynamics to this over the Countryman (which isn’t terrible BTW.).</p>
<p>Achingly desirable!</p>
<p>A bit of a let down after being teased by the Clubman Concept interior, however I suspect the final production finishes will be high quality.</p>
<p>No weird protusion on the front of that Clubman S bumper, that’s a good start as long as that’s a finalized bumper.</p>
<p>I literally can’t wait for this. Finally, a full sized MINI wagon, and a diesel option to boot!</p>
<p>Interior is becoming more and more conventional and the electronic parking brake is a great shame. They are OK on autos but on manuals, they’re a bit of an irritation and on a sporty small car purporting to be fun to drive, it’s another step back.</p>
<p>So sorry to sound like a “hater” but MINI is really losing me more and more with each new model since the F56.</p>
<p>Why do I love the F54 Clubman so much? Well this is the first MINI since 2001 that actually looks like a real motor car, both inside and out, and needs no excuses. To my eyes all previous MINIs, except for perhaps the Countryman, have tended to look – how can I put this diplomatically – just a bit too ‘cutesy’.</p>
<p>MINI is now an established global brand (in 2014 19% of sales were in the US, and 81% in the rest of the world) and one of the major impediments that BMW has had to contend with is that MINI is predominantly perceived as being too feminine. BMW believes that this perception has inhibited sales in many of its 114 markets worldwide.</p>
<p>The R60 Countryman has, to some extent, countered that perception, and no-one can deny that the new F56 looks more rugged than previous MINI incarnations. But is the new Clubman that is the first, healthy indication that MINI is evolving to meet the aspirational demands of a global market.</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more. The Clubman will be the first grown-up MINI. And from everything I’ve seen they’ve done it right. Where the Countryman can look anything from good to ungainly, the F54 is simply attractive at every angle. And inside MIJU has finally great a vehicle that has no excuses.
MINI finally nailed the top end of the range.</p>
<p>So in order to stay alive MINI models will have to grow larger, more generic and lose the chick car factor? Sad if it’s true.</p>
<p>Sometimes, in the process of trying to please everybody, you end up pleasing no one.</p>
<p>Despite the changeover in its core model, 302,183 customers were pleased enough to buy a new MINI in 2014, MINI’s second best year since 2001. The Countryman found a record number of 106,995 new customers in 2014, it’s best ever year since it was launched in 2010, and sales of MINIs in October, November and December were the highest fourth quarter ever!</p>
<p>There is no problem with MINI, except for the problem it will have in meeting the unprecedented demand for its new Models in 2015!</p>
<p>This is a long term issue. If you dilute a brand in the long term, it becomes harder and harder to differentiate within the marketplace and your key USP’s that capture customers and retain them for repeat business are no longer identifiable.</p>
<p>This ultimately leads to loss of customers in the long term as it becomes more difficult for them to define what your products actually are.</p>
<p>In the short term, you may actually see minor sales growth from taking a “please everyone” approach but over a sustained period of time it comes back to bite you on the arse.</p>
<p>The other problem is greed – wanting volume from a niche brand to achieve higher profit margins in order to please shareholders.</p>
<p>See Rover as an example.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I completely disagree with you. This has nothing to do with greed. Car makers are in the business of making cars that people actually want to buy, but equally important, they need to make a profit. Profit is the lifeblood of any company, and without it the company will die, which is precisely what happened to British Leyland in the 70’s.</p>
<p>Agree that profit is the lifeblood for companies and at the same time, focussing on profit above all other factors leads, predictably, to less profit in the long term.</p>
<p>Which part of the interior looks like a Mini.</p>
<p>As an owner of a 2010 Clubman S, this is not of interest to me. I was not attracted to the Countryman either. I most likely will take a long, hard look at the F56. But, anything larger and I will most likely look at another brand.</p>
<p>Looks like a white roof will be available on the new Clubman (see photo)</p>
<p>Good catch.</p>
<p>I’d love to see MINI offer factory tinting for the windows behind the front seats like other manufacturers do. Don’t like the center stack around the heater controls…looks like a Camaro. Haven’t seen the active cruise control in the states yet. Hopefully we can get the remote JCW exhaust option in the states and they offer it on the F54. I’d also love to see the center console touch buttons we saw on the concept.</p>
<p>They do offer factory tinting outside the U.S.</p>
<p>Gabe, has here been any attempt by MINIUSA to get us that option?</p>
<p>Not that I’m aware of. BMW and MINI both offer it in curtains cars outside the U.S. but to my knowledge have never brought the option to the U.S.</p>
<p>As nice as this would be, it is highly unlikely due to inconsistent tint laws from state-to-state.</p>
<p>when are the hybrid and/or diesel options coming?</p>