Report: MINI to Resurrect the Rocketman as Chinese Made Electric Model
MINI is bringing back the Rocketman Concept. That’s how Autocar is phrasing it with the latest news from BMW on MINI’s joint venture with Great Wall. It’s been known for years that MINI was working with Great Wall too build a family of electric MINI products in China for export but details have been rather scarce other then reports of a city car and small SUV. This new report goes in-depth on one of those products – a small city car inspired by the Rocketman concept from 2011.
According to the report BMW has given the idea the green light and is set to collaborate its Spotlight Automotive – the joint venture run by BMW and Great Wall. Autocar went further and features a quote from an unnamed BMW that goes into further detail:
“We’re advancing plans for a model along the lines of the Rocketman. It’s a car we have been looking at for a long time, but to build it profitably at the price point we think customers are prepared to pay, you need a joint venture partner to share costs. Great Wall Motors has provided that opportunity with a shared electric car platform that will be used by Mini,”
Of course none of this is entirely new if you’ve been reading MotoringFile over the past few years. However there are some interesting details that are new and point to the size and performance of the car. Autocar believes the Rocketman will be loosely based off of the Ora R1. The R1 is a four door city car that has a striking similarity in overall silhouette to the original Mini. And at 3495mm in length, 1669mm in width and 1530mm in height, the R1 is similar in dimensions to the 2011 Rocketman concept. It’s motivated by a 47bhp / 92lb ft of torque electric motor upfront and coupled with a standard 30.7kWh or optional 33kWh lithium-ion battery. All told it goes around 200 miles between charges. Oh and the kicker? It’s just over $8,000 after government incentives in China.
BMW is planning for production of the Rocketman to be entirely in China for global export. Given the current automotive climate in the US it’s not entirely likely we’ll see such a small city car but a low could change in three years.
But the bigger question is – would it make for a proper MINI? Obviously we won’t know until 2022 when BMW is scheduled to debut the new Rocketman. And by then range and performance should be further improved by technology advancements and lower battery costs. Count us intrigued.
<p>The best part about this is that it’ll be out as soon as 2022.
Looking forward to what they can do.</p>
<p>Buying a English made MINI was a large factor in my decision to buy my first MINI back in 2004… and my second and third. A European made MINI? Well, ok I could stomach that. Chinese made? Uh, no thanks. Not one dollar of my car buying money will ever go to anything made in China. There is no reason that these new electrics couldn’t be made in either Europe or America other than trying to squeeze every last cent out of them. I would even be willing to pay a premium if it meant that western manufacturers were to make in the west.</p>
<p>Well not really. Because the Chinese government is mandating electric vehicles to the degree they are, the scale of industry to design and build them is and will be more mature than anywhere else in the world. Thus it makes sense for BMW to take advantage of that. They will be making the BMW iX3 in China as well.</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t they be trying to squeeze every last cent out of them? You do realize that profit margins for EVs are extremely small due to their high R&D costs right? If this car was made in America or Europe it’d probably raise the sticker another $5K. Good luck with that.</p>
<p>This can’t happen soon enough.</p>
<p>It feels like the brand has been on pause for a number of years.</p>
<p>Bigger cars, an offensive overhang, and slipping sales … just 3 more years.</p>