Since the Rover group has been sold, Mini has still yet to establish its connection with the BMW brand. Public Relations work has begun to combine the Britishness of Mini cars with the reliabilty and precision engineering of new BMW cars, seen in the manufacturing of the new Mini Hatch due in 2013- based on the BMW front-drive platform.
With the future efforts of the two brands merging, it begs the question as to whether the new Mini car will in fact still represent its origins as a British icon, and whether the re-invention can be in fact changed for the greater good. Mini is already well established within its highly competitive premium car downsizing category, that was pioneered by the very first generation Mini over ten years ago.
The BMW brand reassures that ‘Mini will still be Mini’ and that it will still be an intelligent vehicle with attractive aesthetics- a new balance between the emotion of the British icon and modern day rationality that will be refreshed and possibly the end of an era, but the start of a complete re-invention for the Mini brand.
