When does a Mini stop being a Mini?

Pete · Sep 3, 2010

Saw this article on the BBC website - under the subheadline "how far can BMW stretch the brand before it snaps".

Discuss

By Jorn Madslien

A new Mini will hit the road later this month - one that has moved miles away from the marque's roots and seems to defy much of the logic of the tiny original.

At a driving event for the media this week, the new Mini Countryman was met with much head-shaking by puzzled, albeit curious, motoring journalists.

The car was described as strange, competent, expensive, risky, even dull - there was no consensus view.

But one thing is certain - the Countryman is different, whether compared with rivals or with Minis made in the past.

Park it next to a classic and there are clearly more differences than similarities. At almost twice the size, the Countryman clearly lacks the low-slung go-cart-like characteristics of the original.

It is tall and bulky, its bulging bonnet has a protruding upper lip, and the wheel arches can only be described as butch.

Yet somehow it still looks like a member of the Mini family, the way a mother might resemble her child, or the way a teenage boy might have inherited some of his grandfather's quirky characteristics.

Snow and mud

But unlike the purist classic, the Countryman comes across as having a split personality.

The Countryman is reasonably capable off road Take it off road and the 4x4 version handles rutted fields and slippery mud slopes with aplomb.

A rally Mini based on the Countryman's chassis will presumably deal with such conditions even better when the marque returns to the FIA World Rally Championship next year.

Yet Mini executives are eager to stress that it is not an off-road car - indeed, the standard version is front-wheel drive only. It is a crossover, they stress, built primarily for the road, but also perfectly able to deal with snowy roads or potholed country tracks.

On the road, the drive has little in common with its nippy hatchback sibling. The ride is high and floaty and the steering much less precise.

But smaller Mini-models are not the Countryman's main rivals, so comparing it to those is perhaps unfair.

Instead, the roomy car is pitched as an alternative for drivers who have chosen not to buy Minis in the past, precisely because they have been too small, or at drivers who have outgrown the hatchback or the convertible.

Volkswagen's Golf, Ford's Focus, Toyota's Rav4 and Suzuki's SX4 are named as competitors, but its main rival will be Nissan's hugely successful Qashqai crossover, according to Mini product manager Lee Connolly.

"Nissan's been doing an extremely good job here and we want a slice of their cake, for sure," he says. "The crossover segment is a growing market that we want to be part of."

Stretching the brand

Three quarters of the Countryman's customers will be families, Mr Connolly predicts.

By 2013, Mini will have six models in its stable But targeting customers who are looking for practicality could backfire if it alienates traditional Mini customers who are looking for a funky and youthful experience.

Hence, the Countryman risks stretching the Mini brand to its limits, perhaps damaging its carefully honed image in the process. Launching it thus poses a significant risk for its parent company BMW.

But that, executives say, is a risk worth taking as building on the roaring success of Mini's existing hatchback, convertible and Clubman models could also prove hugely rewarding.

"This is arguably the most important launch since we introduced the New Mini in 2001," says Mr Connolly.

And it is the first of many. Over the next couple of years, two more Minis - a roadster and a coupe - will go on sale, bringing the British-based carmaker's model line-up to six - not counting its experimental electric Mini E.

Though unlike the other five, the Countryman will not be produced in the UK, but in Austria.

Ian Robertson, member of the BMW Group's management board in charge of sales and marketing, has long been convinced the marque is ready to be expanded further and hints that there might well be more to come.

But any such decisions are unlikely to be made until the Countryman has won over the buying public.
Click to expand...

Forum

DesignTechnologist · Sep 3, 2010

I saw a similar article with the SMART Car. Maybe it's common around the world. But in North America, the SMART Car is a 2 seater car that you can fit a few bags of groceries behind the seats. The article I was reading was talking about a new SMART car that had 4 doors and can accomedate up to 4 passengers. It could also hold 2 average size hockey bags behind the back seats. The companies go through all this work to make them small/unique and that's what gives them some of their appeal. Now they're going to be producing what almost every other auto company has.

I guess we'll just wait and see what some of these companies produce.

Pete · Sep 3, 2010

Sounds like the Smart forfour we had over here - they stopped producing it as it was far too expensive and not particualy eco-friendly (other than how it was produced). I saw a concept for a smart "cross over" which i guess would be the same size as this Mini, but I dont think that never left the drawing board

DesignTechnologist · Sep 3, 2010

It could have been. I know it's something we (I) haven't seen over here. We have the typical FourTwo, I think it's called. But you look at some cars that auto manufactures produce and I wonder what are they thinking.

When does a Mini stop being a Mini?

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