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Mini has admitted for the first time that the unusual door layout of the new Mini Clubman may turn off some buyers.
The asymmetric design of the Clubman’s doors, featuring a second, rear-hinged ‘Clubdoor’ only on the right-hand side of the car, will prove inconvenient to many British buyers, most of whom will enter and exit in the road instead of beside the pavement.
A matching Clubdoor on the left side of the car has proved uneconomic to engineer because the fuel filler neck is in the way.
“We accept the design of the Clubman might turn off some people, but we also believe that there are others who will like its unusual design,” said a Mini spokesman.
The Clubman is expected to be as popular as the Mini convertible, taking around 25 per cent of Mini sales in 2009, the first full year of production.
Mini expects it to be a success: “We don’t commit to making a car that doesn’t bring us a profit,” it said.
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