What New MINI Models Do You Want to See?
Last week MINI’s new design director Oliver Heilmer announced that he’s potentially looking new MINI models to either add to or replace existing models.
“The first Mini was built out of a need. I would like to understand what the needs in the next five to six years will be. We want to look at customers who are 13, 14, 15 years old now. What is their aesthetic approach? It’s obviously influenced by smartphones. But if we understand it right, we can bring this into the future.”
Our question to MF readers – what new models do you want to see? Pickup? Sedan? Roadster? Knowing that BMW can’t accommodate anything smaller than the F56 (much less sell it globally), anything pocket sized is likely off the table.
<p>since they are smaller and not based on a the F56 and doubtful but…..</p>
<p>The Rocketman or Superleggera are two concepts this coupe owner would love to buy in the future :)</p>
<p>A Sedan based on the Clubman would be great for the USA market and would bring in new consumers to the brand which in turn would get more people looking at the other models as well.</p>
<p>The problem with this is that sedan sales are plummeting in the US. Bringing a MINI sedan into the market would be a waste of money.
Trucks and Crossovers are king in America. MINI would have better luck with a Countryman based small pick up.</p>
<p>Truly we are ready for an AWD Cooper and Cooper S. Ive been happy that the Clubman and Countryman (and CM E) can be optioned with the ALL4, but if the Cooper could be had with it I feel like that could get me back in the showroom for a smaller car, living in the midwest.</p>
<p>The huge R&D expenditure behind the UKL platform, will mean that it will remain in production and underpin at least one more generation of small BMW and MINI models. With that in mind, I would like to see the following.</p>
<ol>
<li>G61 Paceman – 4door Sportback (sister car to the X2)</li>
<li>G57 Convertible – using the F55 longer wheelbase</li>
<li>G59 Sedan – based on the China 1-Series front-drive Sedan</li>
</ol>
<p>The Sportback – a more sporting and performance orientated SUV – is proving to be a big hit in global markets. The R61 Paceman was a commercial flop, mostly down to its impractical design and only having two doors.</p>
<p>Convertible sales are falling globally, but the current F57 Convertible is the second best selling Convertible in Europe, and the best selling Convertible in the UK. Using the slighter longer F55 wheelbase would result in a more practical proposition.</p>
<p>There is Heritage behind a MINI Sedan. The Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet were a pair of ‘booted’ and upmarket MINIs produced between 1961 – 1969.</p>
<p>Interestingly, before the ‘Superhero’ culture, BMW was planning no less than 11 MINI models and 12 BMW models all underpinned with the UKL Platform – See attached. <a href="https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f8503c785ca6d5606c732acfd11b788b7773bb339b64508735f455973e269af.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f8503c785ca6d5606c732acfd11b788b7773bb339b64508735f455973e269af.jpg</a></p>
<p>I agree that a G61 Paceman could be interesting, tiny SUVs are an area of growth. Don’t expect regular people to know the difference between it and the Countryman though. Market it as the Countryman’s sportier variant.</p>
<p>To work this time, the Sportback – Paceman – would need to have its own distinct styling, in much the same way as the forthcoming X2 has compared to its sibling the X1.</p>
<p>Absolutely agree with Sportback. That would sell.</p>
<p>The X2 is an F-series vehicle (F47).</p>
<p>I’d like to see:</p>
<ol>
<li>A real two seat roadster</li>
<li>A real wagon (Clubman and Countryman are just golf sized hatchbacks)</li>
<li>A smaller than standard hatch that goes back to what the Mini used to be.</li>
</ol>
<p>What I am going to buy in the next 10 years:
1. An electric Rocketman, don’t make it with the existing platforms, make a rocketman-sized floor battery platform, share it with others if you want to make it less expensive to develop. The upcoming electric hatch is too big, bring it back to 143 inches at the most. Make an AWD version and I ditch #3.
2. A real AWD wagon (like the previous person said) that is longer than Golf-sized to be able to travel long distances with a family and full camping gear. (The new AWD Sportwagen Golf is looking tempting…)
3. An AWD hatch.</p>
<p>An awd cooper! The countryman/clubman are big enough imo a golf is considered a decent family car in EU so why not here?
But a performance jcw hardtop would be something that the golf r could never be</p>
<p>If you want young buyers, not yet established, paying off college loans, then you had better make one they can afford.</p>
<p>MINI was always about motoring for the masses. The current incarnation is a premium, expensive brand (at least in the US where you don’t get the MINI One or the diesel models). The current line up is fine. The coupe failed for the most part due to being so niche (and before anyone berates me I owned a Coupe). MINI need an affordable car for the masses. Not sure that is the Rocketman, but if they could go “down market” with a MINI under $18000 they might find sales. Hook the MINI buyer young, then they might aspire for the JCW when they can afford it.</p>
<p>You revisit the past, the Mini Austin already was the premium small car of its era</p>
<p>No, it was designed to be affordable, not premium. British Leyland added more expensive models later, but the base MINIs were always a people car.</p>
<p>At first yes, but rapidly it was considered as THE premium small car.</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure that’s the case.
Sure, rich and famous people make the Mini ‘hip’ and there were plenty of companies that would customize the Mini to be whatever you wanted. Off the production line Mini’s were never considered Premium in the UK, that’s for sure. They were never marketed as such from what I can remember, but there were plenty of other small cars that were.</p>
<p>I agree with you Mike, except for the Cooper S which was always a premium model and rather expensive, but came with the cachet of being a World Rally winner, and ‘Giant Slayer’ to boot.</p>
<p>We missed getting the Clubvan, I think that could have sold well, then turning that into the MINI Ute (Pickup) and bringing back a MINI commercial aspect.</p>
<p>The sedan for USA & China</p>
<p>The roadster and paceman never sold well so no to them.</p>
<p>MOKE!!</p>
<p>The US did get the Clubvan and thanks to the Chicken Tax (no joke) it sold in the dozens. <a href="https://www.motoringfile.com/2013/07/08/mini-usa-kills-the-clubvan/" rel="ugc">https://www.motoringfile.com/2013/07/08/mini-usa-kills-the-clubvan/</a></p>
<p>ha ha chicken Tax. that’s gold. I am in NZ and Aus market, I had an order for a dozen cars lined up for a large health foods co. but could not get MINI Au to bite the bullet and get the cars in.
NZ and Au love a Ute….(pickup)! who knows if it would sell? but the VW and Merc are selling well.</p>
<p>1 built the superleggera
Mini need a real 2 seat convertible.</p>
<p>2
A real 4×4 Jeep wrangler Style based on the countryman…
Should not be that difficult just make it convertible and bigger off-road tires…</p>
<p>At the same time discontinue death 4 door cooper…</p>
<p>This will give a very nice range of cars..</p>
<p>I concur
??</p>
<p>Just will like to add mini did a few years ago a concept called the beachcomber convertible based on the countryman…..</p>
<p>This will be an excellent addition..
To the line…</p>
<p>The just release the full electric and diesel here in the US. That is all I care about</p>
<p>To get me to sell my JCW Coupe, they’d need to make of the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Superleggera</li>
<li>AWD Electric JCW</li>
<li>Rocketman</li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t see any of those happening in my lifetime. This Coupe will be a looooong ownership.</p>
<p>I booked an extended solo test drive in an early Coupe S, and I have to admit that I loved the driving experience. The only downside was that it felt a bit claustrophobic inside, and was full of squeaks and rattles, so on balance I decided against it. The Coupe is a rare sight on the roads, so a one owner with full service history and low miles could well be a future Classic.</p>
<p>I have never driven one but always loved the quirky design. It would seem C-pillar blindspots might be an issue.</p>
<p>As an R52 driver the blind spots are not a major issue with the mirrors adjusted properly.</p>
<p>Well they’ve done the Roadster already. I also agree with old bear. Need more affordability. More special editions version with fixed options at lower cost similar to what they recently did would help. You pay for that a la carte service. But for those that like a la carte, how about allowing some of those options, particularly the safety ones like active driving assistant to not be bundled with the fully loaded package.</p>
<p>But if you really want a new model, I’d second the traditional wagon. Not a sedan, if I want a sedan, I’d buy something else.</p>
<p>I’d love to see a side by side comparison of each model US vs. EU. The US is such a different market, with anything not a truck or SUV, basically flat or losing sales. It seems anything besides the MINI hatch and Countryman is just a niche product in the US. I’d vote for the electric city car, but again, where is the market in the US?</p>
<p>A rocketman or similar small hatchback.
They need to go back to their roots to claw back the sales in the US.
Making vehicles that are expensive and no longer “mini” will only hurt their sales in the US.</p>
<p>I want to buy another MINI, but, they do not offer anything that I am willing to purchase at this time.
I really think they should make small cars with BMW quality as nobody makes well crafted small cars that are sold in the US. Something along the likes of a Polo GTI or S1.</p>
<p>Or the UP GTI.</p>
<p>Superleggera type MINI; a two seat, convertible sportscar, a la 1996 BMW Z3 Roadster sized.</p>
<p>I’d like to see a “framed” convertible something similar to Fiat 500c with the top cover changed from soft to hard (aluminum or hard fiber. no more cloth style. Merc B200 had that foldable moonroof a few years back. I’d like to see somethig similar to that)</p>
<p>Teenagers like cell phones because it’s all they have and they can communicate with them and do cool stuff with them. Translate that into a car and you are looking at a wow factor car, convertible, and more than a two seater.
It needs more power than normal. Something to truly compete with the hot hatch market.
It needs to do cool stuff – “app” stuff. A car that people could make additions for in a similar way as we are able to make apps for phones would be a true breakthrough.
It should not be self driving vehicle – MINI is a motorist’s car.
Rather than giving suggestions of something that has already been designed and that we have been told we won’t get, this is my suggestion!</p>
<p>To do app stuff, you need developers, and as we have seen up to now, car makers make poor developers, so leave the app stuff to the two giants, iOS and Android, just integrate them as fluidly into the car as possible with Android Auto and CarPlay. But sure, make an app for the phone to see the status of your car, maintenance info and any codes thrown.</p>
<p>This is the kind of design simplicity that I want to see from the brand. This is the young buyers’ aesthetic.</p>
<p><a href="http://europe.autonews.com/article/20171025/ANE/171029846/honda-previews-potential-sporty-ev" rel="nofollow ugc">http://europe.autonews.com/article/20171025/ANE/171029846/honda-previews-potential-sporty-ev</a></p>
<p>This could be the Superleggera hardtop.</p>
<p>Absolutely agree. What a beautifully simple design.</p>
<p>They would just use car sharing making ownership something of elders.</p>
<p>?? We all agree that MINI needs to get back to the basics of smaller performance oriented vehicles. A RWD (Optional AWD) Roadster @ an affordable price point. But, they have the COUNTRYMAN & it would be a WASTE not to make LIFTED HIGH PERFORMANCE version of it to take on the Ford BRONCO & Redesigned Jeep WRANGLER!!! Who’s With Me?</p>
<p><a href="https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b9f60211bffa0599f3ab65b36f456caa750e15323a816fa2b3b96efe46342dd.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b9f60211bffa0599f3ab65b36f456caa750e15323a816fa2b3b96efe46342dd.jpg</a></p>
<p>?? We all agree that MINI needs to get back to the basics of smaller performance oriented vehicles. A RWD (Optional AWD) Roadster @ an affordable price point. But, they have the COUNTRYMAN & it would be a WASTE not to make LIFTED HIGH PERFORMANCE version of it to take on the Ford BRONCO & Redesigned Jeep WRANGLER!!! Who’s With Me? <a href="https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b9f60211bffa0599f3ab65b36f456caa750e15323a816fa2b3b96efe46342dd.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b9f60211bffa0599f3ab65b36f456caa750e15323a816fa2b3b96efe46342dd.jpg</a></p>
<p>It’d be interesting to see if the US market would buy it, they tend to like bigger vehicles, but maybe the appeal is just about “perceived offroadability”, which is what seems to drive the small crossover segment these last years.</p>
<p>MINI really needs to increase power on the next generation models.</p>
<p>Volkswagen has recently launched its all new 2018 Polo – VW’s closest competitor to the MINI F55 – and is promising a sharper and more agile driving experience from the new 147mph and 0-62mph in 6.7sec Polo GTI, compared with the more mature driving manners of the Golf GTI.</p>
<p>Power for the new Polo GTI comes from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit with peak output of 197bhp and 236lb ft. The previous Polo GTI made 190bhp from a 1.8-litre four-cylinder unit.</p>
<p>The Polo GTi is shorter, lighter and better to drive,” said Volkswagen’s small car line director, Ralf Kölling. “The Golf has performance more oriented to the highway, the Polo GTI is more agile for a really good drive. The shorter wheelbase than the Golf gives the Polo that extra feeling of agility.”</p>
<p>The basis for the new Polo GTi is a much stiffer five-door body based off VW’s ubiquitous MQB platform and with a torsional rigidity of 18k NM/deg. The old Polo rated 14k NM/deg, 28 per cent less. <a href="https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ce7c72e7f5deb189245b26827e86d24047f2766abfc06738dae09db2ec524a1a.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ce7c72e7f5deb189245b26827e86d24047f2766abfc06738dae09db2ec524a1a.jpg</a></p>