theSwitchback

BMW are planning several new MINI variants and limited editions, as they focus their future direction more squarely at the premium small car market niche which the MINI brand currently dominates.

In terms of special editions, MINI aficionados can look forward to at least three new models in the future. MINI have confirmed to theSwitchback that there will be an unveiling of a special edition at this years 50th birthday celebrations at MINI United to be held at the Silverstone circuit in the UK. It is understood that the MINI Camden and MINI Mayfair special editions will be given their public debut.

What representatives have been unable to officially confirm is news we have received from insiders that a strictly limited edition of as little as 100 “MINI John Cooper Works F1″ MINIs have been given preliminary approval from the top brass at BMW. The F1 badging is more a nod to the racing pedigree of John Cooper than it is to the more rally rooted history of the MINI, and these performance themed hot hatches are expected to carry over many styling and performance attributes from the MINI CHALLENGE race cars, making them the fastest production MINI ever to be released. The release schedule and firm details are currently unknown, but this strictly limited sporty MINI should be a truly special edition, and perhaps a genuine collectors piece of the future.

We already know that the next production MINI will come from Austria, in the form of the MINI Crossover, due to be unveiled to the public at large at this years IAA motorshow in Frankfurt, and most recently snapped testing at the Nürburgring. Recent rumours have suggested that this vehicle, which expands the MINIs product portfolio to four distinct body types (MINI, MINI Clubman, MINI Convertible and MINI Crossover) will be joined by a couple of distinctly different, but not altogether unfamiliar body styles.

First up (but we’re still talking at least a few years away) could be a new MINI variant, dubbed by insiders and rumour mongers alike as the MINI SpaceBox. This “MINI Progressive Activity Sedan” sounds like a strange beast, but is in fact intended to offer the most practical and flexible vehicles to come from MINI. The design is said to be based off the MINI Crossover, but more typically MINI like than SUV in stance and stature. The MINI SpaceBox is intended to draw in customers who want a MINI and don’t feel the Clubman offers enough flexibility, and the Crossover is just too much of a Chelsea tractor in style and size. Think of it as a kind of MINI fastback meets estate, and you wont be a million miles off. This vehicle really could open up the appeal of the MINI brand to those, like myself, who have grown up with MINIs (and Minis) but with a family desire a level of flexibility no car in the MINI range currently offers, and to whom any kind of “soft roader” lacks appeal.

Next in line is the apparently very recently approved MINI Speedster or Roadster. This is a real old chestnut in the world of MINI rumours and speculation, and since murmuring began of its possibility as far back as 2001, BMW have always said that it was extremely unlikely as a Speedster would only cannibalise MINI Convertible sales, rather than bring anything new to the table. If the most recent noises coming from around BMW are to be believed, someone must have had a change of heart, we know the idea of a Roadster concept has always excited the design team at MINI, so it would be great, if perhaps a little decadent, to see the car finally make it to the concept, then full production stage.

Then we have the MINI E, and what will become of that. Surely BMW will not miss the opportunity to use the strength of the MINI brand to boost their improving eco-credentials further with a production hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle sooner rather than later? Rumour has it that BMW Project i is on the way to a production car, a small, electric powered city car, and that preference is that this should carry the MINI badge, rather than BMW, a brand new or “retro” marque.

All of this is great news for MINI, even if some may feel each new car in the range is a dilution of the original MINI concept, but it does beg the question, where will all these new models be produced? We’ve been told more than once that BMW Group Plant Oxford is operating at or very near full capacity, there’s just no room inside for further production lines, which is one reason why the MINI Crossover is being produced in Austria, making it the first full production new MINI model to be assembled overseas. The assumption could be that the MINI SpaceBox would join the Crossover in Austria, due to having many key components in common with it’s pumped up sibling, but then Magna Steyr are better known for their work on 4X4 vehicles, which apparently the SpaceBox will not be. And where does that leave the Speedster? Expansion at Plant Oxford? That would be expensive and take a long time, but the alternatives would be to build MINIs in another BMW group plant, which could prove logistically tricky and costly.

The truth is, at this stage, very little solid facts are known, but the future certainly looks bright, diverse, and interesting for the MINI, and you can only expect the rumour mills to be going ever more crazy as we head deeper into the Mini’s 50th anniversary year.

Tags: bmw group plant oxford, Magna Steyr, MINI crossover, mini john cooper works, MINI Roadster, MINI Spacebox, MINI Speedster

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 11:26 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.