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BMW is planning to roll out a cheaper, near-£10,000 Mini to take advantage of the UK’s upcoming scrappage scheme, according to company sources.

The new entry-level Mini will be based on the 75bhp 1.6-litre version of the Mini One unveiled at the Geneva motor show and recently launched in Germany.

That car has boosted sales in Germany and sources say up to a third of all German Mini sales are as a direct result of the local scrappage scheme. “We’re reviewing an entry-level Mini One...Read the full article

Autocar:

BMW is planning to roll out a cheaper, near-£10,000 Mini

In other words, the basic MINI will be the price it should have been all along

This really will be a back-to-basics model when you consider that even the £16000 Cooper S doesnt come with air-con! What else can they take out: Radio? Rear view mirror? Headrests? I would be concerned.

Doesn't the One use a 1.4 petrol engine these days, not a 1.6, at least since the switch from the Chrysler-based units?

 Now a 120d powered MINI, that would be a cracking motor! 180bhp, and about 65mpg!

 better still the twin turbo from the 123d, 204bhp and 295lbft in a car that size, while doing 60mpg! 

(granted i will ignor the probably £20,000 price tag!) 

These have been on sale for ages on the continent, for example  in Italy it is called the ray and is 16,900 euros eek! Think Mini missed a trick by taking advantage of the pound and realigning their range calling the cooper a one, cooper s a cooper, a JCW the cooper S etc and then putting a City model at the bottom of the range, then if the pound got stronger they could just realign  the specs again without obvious discounting and price increases.

The engine is the same as in the 207 and other small PSA products by the way.

Autocar:

BMW is planning to roll out a cheaper, near-£10,000 Mini to take advantage of the UK’s upcoming scrappage scheme, according to company sources.

Well it had better hurry up as the £300m promised by the Govt will likely run out within 3 months.

 Sounds like a good idea to me, and I am sure the "chippers" will soon offer upgrades to bring One performance levels for a couple hundred quid.

Autocar:

The new entry-level Mini will be based on the 75bhp 1.6-litre version of the Mini One unveiled at the Geneva motor show and recently launched in Germany.

 

PLEASE do your research properly and get your facts right!! It will not be a 1.6, its the same 1.4 as the current MINI One and some PSA cars have, detuned to 75bhp.

As for the 120d engine MINI, thats nothing more than a rumor, I doubt it will ever matieralise. If there was a 2.0 diesel MINI it would most likely use the 2.0 PSA diesel.