Mini is preparing a new city car to take on the likes of the new Smart ForTwo and, in Europe at least, the Toyota iQ. We first caught wind of their plans with the Rocketman concept unveiled at the 2011 Geneva show and, according to Mini’s head of design Anders Warming, a production version is on the table.
As reported on UK website autoexpress.co.uk, Warming hinted a new entry-level model is on the cards saying, “For sure, a MINI should always be a small car, so a new city car would be appropriate for the brand. At the moment, we don’t have the right tech solutions, but we are working on it. We don’t yet have a final solution, you could say.”
The Rocketman concept, of course, had a lightweight carbon fibre construction and its nose hinted at what was to become the front-end of the new-generation Mini launched earlier this year. Warming, however, poured water on the idea of any such exotic construction materials appearing on a production version saying, “Our concepts have had carbon parts, but aluminium is more likely. We want to reduce parts, to do more with less.”
On that note, Mini will be wanting to share costs and likely a platform with another brand and given the BMW/Toyota partnership to develop a new sportscar platform, there’s every chance Mini and Toyota might get together to develop a platform for what would serve the next-gen. Toyota IQ and the new Mini city car. Perhaps 2016 might be the time when we finally see the sheets lifted off the production version.
As there was with the Rocketman concept, there’s no news as to what might feature under the city car’s hood. All Mini said about the Rocketman concept was that whatever engine it had would only use around 3,0 litres/100 km in the combined cycle.