An interesting new report suggests that the BMW Group is considering co-developing a new platform with Great Wall Motors, and running its next-generation Mini range on these underpinnings.
According to Automobile, the German group’s original plans to build its next-generation range of Mini models on the so-called FAAR front-wheel-drive platform have been scrapped due to the high cost of these underpinnings (although they will still be used for certain BMW brand models, the report says).
After talks with Toyota on co-developing a new small car platform apparently fell through, BMW reportedly turned to China’s GWM.
The Automobile report furthermore suggests that BMW plans to take the lead in terms of engineering the new platform, with GWM then taking care of production of the vehicles – both Mini models and GWM-badged versions – in China.
Interestingly, the report says BMW will extend the current Mini platform’s lifecycle by two years as it gears up for this proposed joint venture, which would see the first next-generation Mini model arrive in 2023.
