It looks like some big changes are happening under BMW’s umbrella, some of them affecting the brands owned by the German company. According to a new report, BMW plans to give future MINI models their own platform to play with and therefore separate the brand even more from the German side of things. In this regard, Automobile Magazine claims that in 2023 we’ll see a new model by the name of MINI Metro Runner, built for the cities of tomorrow.
This is good news for those fans of the brand out there wanting MINI to be on its own feet again, and focused more on what made it popular in the first place: urban living. MINI officials hinted in this direction for a while now, taunting us with concepts and hints at possible future, smaller models fit for urban living. However, they haven’t offered a reason why the sudden change of heart, even though we all suspected it already.
If we’re to believe what Automobile Magazine is reporting, officials decided that the profitability brought on by the MINI brand doesn’t justify using the future FAAR platform, which will be introduced for next-gen FWD BMW models. Following failed negotiations with Toyota to develop yet another common platform for small cars – as it was the case with the Z4 and Supra – it seems like there’s more to the upcoming collaboration with Chinese company Great Wall than we first learned.
The two will work together to bring out the Metro Runner model, the smallest in the future MINI line-up, followed by a Metro Cruiser replacing the Clubman and Metro Adventurer replacing the Countryman. All these models will apparently be built in China as talks about Brexit intensify but they will be developed under the guidance of BMW engineers. As for the FAAR platform, it will apparently be used for the next gen 1 Series range which will only have a 5-door version, the 2 Series Active Tourer and 2 Series Gran Coupe which will be added to the range later on.
It all seems a bit hard to digest right now and we may not know all the fact but the report does hold some water. BMW has been trying to trim some of the fat around the camp, to invest more money into EV research and development. Furthermore, our own sources talk in hushed tones about a possible demise of some of the models currently made by BMW and MINI and their claims fall right onto the same patterns as what Automobile is reporting. However, it remains to be seen how all of this will pan out.
