One of the most recognisable and traditional brands on the market is about to gamble with a name change and a big shift in direction.
Mini’s all-new Countryman SUV, due next year, is much larger than the model it will replace. And, for the first time, it will also come as an EV.
The BMW Group-owned Brit brand officially unveiled the Countryman at the big IAA Mobility expo in Munich on Friday.
At the same time it officially revealed its new-generation hatchback. It’ll be badged Cooper, a name previously applied to quicker versions of the smallest Mini. It will arrive in Australia early in the second half of 2024.
“Cooper is the name for a family,” says Mini brand boss Stefanie Wurst.
“It will come as a three-door, five-door and a convertible version.”
The next generation Mini hatchback adopts the Cooper name. Picture: Supplied.
That’s the same basic body types as before, but the new Cooper will put more emphasis on EVs.
“The three-door will come in two electric flavours, and two combustion-engine drivetrains,” says Wurst.
There’s only a single EV version in the current Mini hatch line-up.
The new Cooper EVs will come with a single 135kW or 160kW electric motor driving the front wheels. The more powerful motor will be paired with a larger battery pack.
The Countryman EV, on the other hand, will come in single-motor front-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive forms. The latter will be more powerful and quicker, with a larger battery pack.
The new Cooper will have two electric and two internal combustion models. Picture: Supplied.
Expect driving range of up to 440km from the Countryman EV with the bigger battery.
Mini will produce both the new Countryman and Cooper with internal-combustion engines. There will be a choice of two petrol engines in the hatchback. While the SUV will also be produced with a diesel, it’s very unlikely this will make it to Australia.
Petrol-powered Countryman variants are scheduled to arrive in Australia in the first quarter of next year, while a launch around July is planned for the two EVs and the high-performance John Cooper Works variant. The Cooper EV hatchbacks will land at the same time as the second wave of Countryman variants.
The new Countryman shares its under-the-skin structure and tech with BMW’s X1 and iX1 SUVs. The Mini will even be built in the same Leipzig factory.
The new Mini Countryman will share underpinnings with the BMW X1. Picture: Supplied.
And it’ll be larger than the current Countryman; at 14cm longer and 6cm higher this
is the most maxi Mini ever. Interior space increases significantly, a move Wurst says is intended to retain Mini owners with growing families who would otherwise have to move to another brand.
There’s a distinct family relationship between the new-generation Countryman and Cooper, inside and out. The hatchback could the best-looking Mini hatchback since the brand’s revival under BMW ownership back in 2000. The bulky Countryman isn’t so pretty.
It’s inside that the new-gen Mini models are most changed, and improved. The brand’s fresh interior design is playfully premium, and a real step up from the current cars. Centrepiece of the similarly simple instrument panel designs is a huge circular OLED touchscreen with up to eight user-selectable display modes.
The cabin is a hi-tech interpretation of classic Mini styling cues. Picture: Supplied.
As with many other high-end brands, Mini is beginning a phase of rapid electrification.
While EVs presently make up 15 per cent of the brand’s sales, it’s aiming to hit 50 per cent in just two years and 100 per cent by 2030.
Mini’s next all-new model, due to debut sometime in 2024, will help drive this growth.
“It is a smaller, edgier Sports Activity Vehicle, or a crossover concept, that only
comes as an electric drivetrain,” says Wurst. In the BMW Group they prefer to use SAV (for Sports Activity Vehicle) rather than SUV.
Expect it to look a lot like the Aceman concept revealed in the middle of 2022.
Keyword: Mini unveils new Countryman and Cooper