Can a MINI Cooper get any more mini? Apparently it can, as the minds behind the iconic premium small car brand are currently in discussion with several manufacturers regarding the concept of a micro MINI.
MINI aren’t afraid of innovation, or of taking a risk on a radical new design. You only have to look at the original 1959 model to be reminded of their approach to changing consumer preconceptions about car size. The MINI range occupies a niche of retro-cool compact cars with excellent handling and bags of character, but could the series stand to include a new addition that’s even smaller still?
The current UKL platform that underpins the new MINI Cooper hatch could technically support a vehicle that would be similar in size to the Volkswagen up! in the sub-light car class. MINI Product Manager, Roderik von Ostrowski recently told carsales that they were seriously considering the prospect of such an ultra-compact addition to their line-up, providing that demand proved viable and it could still maintain the expected MINI performance standards.
“I think the whole package would have to be right for a super-mini. Can it be of a high quality, still have go-kart handling? If not, we can’t do it,” he stated.
Of course, this is not the first time that the company have toyed with the radical notion of an ultra-compact MINI. The Mini Rocketman concept was first shown to the public at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show although the smaller three-door hatchback was about a foot shorter than the Mini Hatch and was never intended to go into the production stage.
Now the same question has arisen again almost three years later: would people buy a mini MINI?
Apart from the design issues – many of which could be solved if the manufacturer had the will to do so – perhaps the core issue remains that of its economic viability. The new generation of MINI Cooper might have revitalised the small car look and stood out from its competitors but it has consistently come up short in the value-for-money department.
People bought (and continue to buy) MINIs for the lifestyle, the status symbol and the go-kart handling that just screams ‘fun to drive’. They certainly don’t buy them for the asking price or their ongoing cost to run. Any super-compact MINI would surely suffer the same problem but doubly so, since price-conscious consumers in the ultra-compact segment are often primarily concerned with buying something that they can run on a budget.
No problem is insurmountable though, as MINI have proven in the past. While we shouldn’t expect to hear anything solid about an ultra-compact model emerging any time soon, the fact that the question is being revisited suggests that it may not be too far off.
