This is not the first report talking about Mini building a car larger than the Countryman, currently their biggest production model. However, this time, the report we’re citing is rather contradictory.
Auto Express quotes Mini chief designer Anders Warming as saying that the BMW-owned brand won’t launch any model bigger than the Countryman. “We won’t build anything bigger than the Countryman, not at this moment,” Warming said. The only problem is that Mini is already preparing a model larger than the Countryman!
The Mini Clubman pre-production study unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show is 4,097mm long, 1,789mm wide and 1,561 mm tall, surpassing the Countryman in all directions except height. Does that mean it won’t be built? Of course not.
Further into the report Warming says: “You should be able to park a Mini in a city, so a Countryman or this new Clubman is as big as it should be.” Now, I get it, and this means the title of the story should have been “Mini won’t build anything bigger than the Clubman.”
Built on Mini’s new UKL1 platform shared with BMW, the Clubman is 260mm longer and 187 wider than its predecessor, jumping from the B-segment into the C-segment.
As for the never-ending story of the Rocketman concept, Warming said it is still an emotional topic for Mini. “We’re happy with the reception the Rocketman got but we still have to make ends meet on that one – it’s a numbers game. We’ll have to get back to you on that one,” the designer said.
By Dan Mihalascu
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