2022 Mini Cooper Countryman
2022 Mini Cooper Countryman– All car brands have their respective icons. Porsche has the 911, Subaru has WRX, Chevrolet has Corvette and MINI has Cooper. This cute car has a compact body, a design with a youthful impression, to small things like the use of a 3-door configuration in the standard version, the S version, to their John Cooper Works. Indeed, since its rebirth in 1994 through the acquisition of the Rover group by BMW, the design of this car has continued to be maintained as in the days of the 1959 Mini-Morris.
Even though the current dimensions are much more enlarged to accommodate the demands of the compact car market, MINI Cooper continues to maintain its traditions and designs. Starting from the rounded headlights, the pillars A to C and D (on the Cooper 5 doors) are distinctive, to the taillights that were made using the Mini-Morris design language. Another thing that has always been a hallmark of the Mini is the 3-door configuration on their Cooper model.
Apart from the Cooper Countryman or Clubman models, the standard Cooper hatchback does have this door configuration. In the standard model, the S version, the convertible, to the fiercest variant, John Cooper Works, all have the characteristic 3-door use. It’s as if the Mini Cooper was created with a “birthmark” like that. But unfortunately, according to a source from Motoring File, BMW is starting to take into account the existence of the 3-door MINI Cooper in the world automotive market.
Wait a minute, does that mean they want to stop production of the 3-door MINI Cooper in the future? A sign, characteristic, and culture of MINI itself will be discontinued? Indeed, this is a surprise for you petrolheads, especially those who like this compact car brand. How can BMW be able to release a soul from MINI since its inception in the ’60s?
However, if we see many other manufacturers such as Audi, VW, and Skoda which are starting to remove their 3-door cars, it seems that for MINI it is not something that is impossible for them in the future. What causes each of these manufacturers to give up their product characteristics? VW stopped the production of the 3-door Beetle and Scirocco, the 3-door VW Polo was gone. Audi is also not making the 3-door A3 anymore because no one is interested.
In terms of sales, the 3-door segment market is starting to be eroded by the large demand for crossover cars and SUVs around the world. But this did not make MINI sales sluggish. Because last year alone, their 3-door model managed to sell 11,000 units in the American market, beating its sibling, the 5-door model, which only sold 7,723 units. But indeed for this 3-door Cooper hatch model, sales were still beaten by Countryman with 14,863 units sold last year in America.
Even in the Asian region, we don’t need to deny that indeed the public’s demand has fallen to the crossover and SUV models seeing from the many cars that have to be made in the style of these models. Is this the reason BMW wants to retire its 3-door Cooper and focus on SUV or crossover models? It is true that the above case still wants to be discussed again by BMW executives and MINI and it may only happen in 2022 when MINI refreshes its products.