Mini confirms plans to expand its lineup with the addition of two new Chinese-built electric models and an electric-powered variant of the next-generation Countryman to be produced in Germany as part of an electrification strategy outlined by the head of the BMW-owned automaker, Bernd Koerber.
Speaking Wednesday at a media event in Munich, Germany, Koerber says Mini will “enable customers all over the world to have emission-free driving with a completely electrified model family” while continuing to offer “highly efficient petrol and diesel engines, which will be a solution for target groups and regions whose mobility needs are not yet met by all-electric vehicles.”
Confirmed to join the Mini lineup are an electric version of the next-generation hatchback and a new, as-yet-unnamed junior crossover. Both are set to be produced in a joint venture with Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors based in the city of Zhangjiagang for export to key world markets, including North America, starting in 2023.
Koerber tells Wards the electric versions of the next-generation Mini hatchback and the new Mini crossover model will be based on a dedicated electric-car platform being developed by Mini parent BMW and Great Wall. They also will use a new generation of cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries, according to Koerber.
The electric hatchback to be produced by Spotlight Automotive will mirror the look of its gasoline and diesel siblings, which also are planned to launch in 2023 and will be produced exclusively at Mini’s traditional Oxford plant in England.
Mini last week announced it is discontinuing production of Mini models at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born, Netherlands.
Further details of the new junior Mini crossover are scarce, though it is possible it will revive the dormant Paceman name and form the basis of a replacement for BMW’s 8-year-old electric-powered i3 hatchback.
Koerber confirms the electric Mini crossover will launch after the next-generation electric Mini hatchback in 2024.
The joint venture factory where both models will be produced in Zhangjiagang, some 85 miles (137 km) from Shanghai, is to go into operation in 2022. It is planned to produce both Mini and models under Great Wall’s newly established Ora electric-car brand.
Positioned above the two Chinese-built electric models in the future Mini lineup will be an electric version of the next-generation Countryman, which Koerber says will once again grow in size and be twinned with the BMW X1, both of which are planned to be built in a BMW factory in Germany.
