Currently reading: Mini should have UK design studio
Mini bosses are keen to emphasise Mini's Britishness, and are in discussion about how big the Mini range should be

Mini brand boss and board member Peter Schwarzenbauer believes that having a UK design studio for the brand would be “a good idea. We have to emphasise the British thing a bit more.” 

Currently all Minis are designed in Munich, but speaking at the Detroit model show, Schwarzenbauer said that having an additional UK studio would ease the task of giving the cars a British character. 

Schwarzenbauer also revealed that there’s a debate internally about how wide the Mini family should be. Asked whether there could be a Mini SUV, Schwarzenbauer said that “we’ve got up to 10 ideas for new Mini models.” And the new UKL platform that the latest Mini is based on allows architectures of ‘between 3.8 and 4.5 metres’ - longer than the biggest Mini Countryman today. 

But in parallel the company is also working on the idea “that less is more. We could concentrate on four or five models that are heroes” he says, by which he means models developed to a very high standard. Also being considered are models that less obviously resemble the core Mini. “Do they all have to look like Minis? The Mini fans say yes.”

But Schwarzenbauer suggests that if the cars “have a certain DNA, like a family of kids,” then there might be scope for models that diverge more substantially from the Mini hatchback, a strategy that he says “would open doors” to more variety. 

Whatever the outcome of this debate, the results are a long way off, these cars planned to replace the third generation of BMW Minis being launched now at the end of this decade.

This more radical approach to the Mini range is not under consideration because the brand is struggling, incidentally - a record 305,000 Minis were sold globally in 2013, demand has remained strong for the outgoing hatch right to the end of its life, and Schwarzenbauer says that the potential in China is far from realised, with less than 10 per cent of sales coming from this country.

In the more immediate future, BMW is considering new ways to personalise the Mini, including the possibility of changing features later in the car’s life. Schwarzenbauer cites airvent trims and other decorative pieces as examples, these alterations possible as long as they don’t affect the car’s crash behaviour. Dealers would make perform these swaps, but Schwarzenbauer envisages elements that could be DIY modifications. 

More radically, he says BMW is also considering downloadable apps that would allow the car to be upgraded, and downgraded too if the next owner didn’t want to pay for the feature. As an example he cites seat heater elements, which would be built into all Minis and activated by buying an app that the next owner could decline if they didn’t want it. In effect, it would be like renting certain options. 

Back to top

Schwarzenbauer sees the Mini brand as ‘being in the vanguard of technology for the BMW group,’ not least through electrification. “Mini is an urban brand, and a natural for electrification. But,” he says, “what is the right solution? The system needs to be compact – where does the battery go?’ 

It’s a significant issue, given that the experimental Mini E was reduced to a two-seater by its batteries. Electrification is clearly coming, but the carbonfibre bodywork of BMW’s i cars Schwarzenbauer does not envisage being adopted by the brand.

Join the debate

Comments
6
Add a comment…
graurelu 25 September 2014

Price too high

Always over-priced, but I love this car :d
Flatus senex 19 January 2014

Where the design office is located is not important

The ability of the design office is infinitely more important than its location. BMW styling is desperately bad at the moment.
optima 17 January 2014

MINI mini

If MINI is the brand name then what is the MINI called ? is it the MINI mini ? there are the MINI Clubman MINI Countryman, MINI Paceman, MINI Cabrolet etc so what is the MINI called and then if it is going to get any bigger how about the MINI maxi ? or smaller MINI minor ?. The mini is no longer a car model its a MINI brand with no real identity.
Dark Isle 17 January 2014

Autocar wrote:Currently all

Autocar wrote:

Currently all Minis are designed in Munich

That would explain the current model's oversized features, awkward detailing and generally disappointing design. The only Mini that looked generally OK if still somewhat cartoonish is the first generation. It's been distorted and made even more bloated ever since.

marj 17 January 2014

optima wrote:If MINI is the

optima wrote:

If MINI is the brand name then what is the MINI called ? is it the MINI mini ? there are the MINI Clubman MINI Countryman, MINI Paceman, MINI Cabrolet etc so what is the MINI called and then if it is going to get any bigger how about the MINI maxi ? or smaller MINI minor ?. The mini is no longer a car model its a MINI brand with no real identity.

As much as I dislike MINIs and their fisher-price interiors, the brand has a very strong image and identity. Yes, it might be what Issigonis dreamt of, but the cache that b=customers buying to is still there. I actually thought BMW had kept a design office in UK for MINI, it appears not. It is a shame as they need to immerse the design team in British culture. If Kia can have a design office in Worthing, why can't BMW? I am sure it would help with BMW too. They should really set up near Cowley, but I fear for 'trend analysis' it will be somewhere in London's East end. It worked for Nissan, so no reason why the capital can't host MINIs design future.