Production department of MINI cars got good news from BMW side. The German luxury car giant made an official announcement that it is going to increase the production count of the MINI and is going to invest a beefy $388 million into the UK based operation. The brand’s lineup is reported to being increased to 10 vehicles from the existing 6 vehicles.
If the new lineup is considered then MINI’s fleet of vehicles would now feature a five-door station wagon, a small van and even a notchback sedan. All the vehicles are being anticipated to hit the markets by 2020. The company has already confirmed inclusion of a couple of vehicles in its lineup. One of them is the four-door Countryman that has been named the Paceman. The car is expected to be launched in US at the first place sometime in the first quarter of 2013. The Paceman was unveiled as a concept at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. Another one is a small cargo hauler, called the Clubvan.
BMW’s board member responsible for MINI, Harald Krueger, said that MINI production plans are now being focused on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In fact, the company is going to unveil an updated version of the classic MINI Cooper in 2013. The upcoming station wagon will sport the same chassis as the one featured in this car. He added that the hefty 388 million USD investment will be delivered to the MINI before the end of 2015. In fact last month, the company said that building vehicles at Mitsubishi’s NedCar plant in the Netherlands isserious under consideration, where Mitsubishi is ending production at the end of the year.
Company’s such moves and investment plans are dropping hints that something big is certainly going to come out of the box in the coming years as far as MINI is concerned.
