MINI bets strong on new five-door model

MINIMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
2211 photos
7 videos
has unveiled what is one of the main bets of the brand to increase sales over the next few years. The new five-door MINI hatchback is larger and more spacious, but doesn't runaway from the brand's standards.

Scheduled for release in October expectations indicate that this new variant may be able to sell 150,000 units per year, which equates to a big boost in sales. According to an internal source, it is expected that three five-door vehicles will be sold, for each three-door version.

The new five-door MINI is larger and more spacious than the three-door version, but nevertheless the brand will not show it in the price of the model.

With around 4m in length, varying with the version, the five-door MINI hatchback has a wheelbase 72 mm longer than the three-door model and is 161 mm longer overall. The increase of the wheelbase is reflected in the increase of the rear area of the cabin. BMW says that the car also offers 15mm more headroom and more than 61mm width inside at shoulder level.

The cargo area has also become more competitive with an increase to 278 liters, 67 liters more than the three-door version. With the rear seats folded the maximum load capacity of the MINI increases to 941 liters.

At launch the new five-door MINI will be available in CooperMINI (BMW) CooperGermany, 2014 > present version, with a three-cylinder engine gasoline, the Cooper DMINI (BMW) Cooper DGermany, 2014 > present version, with the three-cylinder diesel engine, and the Cooper S and Cooper SD version, with four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines respectively. All versions will be equipped as standard with a manual six-speed gearbox, but all of them can be combined optionally with a Steptronic six-speed automatic transmission.

In a combination of performance and efficiency, the power of the engine range of the five-door MINI hatchback starts with the 116hp of the Cooper D and goes up to 196hp of the Cooper S, while consumption varies between 3.8 and 5.9l/100km. All versions meet EU6 emissions standards.

In terms of looks the big difference between the three and five-door variants is the introduction of additional doors. The rest of the design remains true to the third generation MINI.