2013 Mini Coupe John Cooper Works Gp Edition Limited # 145 Of 500 2 Door on 2040-cars

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Mini lineup could expand to include up to 10 models, still no hope for Rocketman

During an event in Ponce, Puerto Rico last week where Mini introduced members of the media to the 2013 Paceman and John Cooper Works GP, product planners discussed that the brand's lineup could expand to eventually include up to 10 bodystyles. Currently, the Mini range consists of seven models: the Hardtop, Clubman, Convertible, Countryman, Coupe, Roadster and Paceman.
Speaking to members of the media, David Duncan, Mini USA sales manager, said that these new models could fall into a range of niches - "any segment that makes sense for a small car." No specific vehicle classes were discussed, but Duncan stated that the possibilities are endless, "as long as we're the smallest player in any segment."
Well, nearly endless. We've been hoping that Mini would re-think its decision to nix plans to create a vehicle smaller than the Hardtop - a notion previewed by the excellent Rocketman concept (shown above) from the 2011 Geneva Motor Show - but the automaker once again stated that this is absolutely off the table. In order to create a vehicle of the Rocketman's size, a completely new platform would have to be engineered (that's expensive), and while Mini has looked into acquiring existing architecture from another brand, parent company BMW has reportedly put the kibosh on such an act. If a Rocketman is ever to be born, BMW/Mini will do it on its own, and right now, that simply isn't in the cards.

Mini may have overexpanded, some models may not be replaced

Surprise, surprise. According to Edmunds, Mini may be looking to reduce the number of vehicles in its range, which has recently expanded to include a total of seven offerings (not to mention the copious varieties of configurations found within each line). When Mini relaunched in the early 2000s, it did so with one model, the Cooper Hardtop, and has since added the Convertible, Clubman, Countryman, Coupe, Roadster and Paceman. It looks like those ambitions of expanding the range to include up to 10 models may have been a bit optimistic.
"When we start to replace models, I think you will see that we won't replace every model exactly," Jim McDowell, Vice President of Mini USA, told Edmunds in an interview. The brand's core models right now are the Hardtop and Countryman, and of the roughly 66,200 vehicles that Mini sold in the United States last year, these two vehicles accounted for some 75 percent of total sales.
McDowell declined to mention any specific models that may not be replaced in the lineup's next generation, though our best guess is that ultra-niche vehicles like the Coupe (pictured) or Clubman. As for replacing some of the current models with new products, the only clear gap we can see in the brand's lineup is a smaller car like the Rocketman concept, though we've been told several times that a mini-Mini isn't going to happen. Be sure to let us know what Mini models you'd like to see kept or axed in Comments below.

Mini forgets to bring car to LA, shows Citysurfer concept scooter

See that red thing? It's the Mini Citysurfer Concept. It is not, in case you were wondering, an automobile. Yet despite this apparent shortcoming, Mini has placed it on a plinth at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The electric scooter weighs in at 40 pounds, can hit 15 miles per hour, cover 10 to 15 miles and can be folded up and charged in the trunk of a Mini Cooper (or any other vehicle with a 12-volt outlet and a roomy enough cargo area). According to the British marque, these qualities will give the scooter's owner the "spontaneous and convenient mobility even in those sections of an urban area not accessible to motorized vehicles."
It's not terribly difficult to see the appeal, as Mini explains it. With urban congestion becoming an increasingly serious problem - and some cities beginning to ban cars outright - the idea of an easy to charge and easy to stow runabout is extremely attractive. That's doubly true in the case of the Citysurfer, which is rather well equipped, as far as scooters go.