Mini has announced that it is ending production of its oddball 2-seaters, the hardtop Coupe and the softtop Roadster. Each models are nevertheless primarily based on the second-generation Mini platform, and it seems unlikely that the duo will return as element of the new, third generation of Minis.
The pair was introduced with considerable fanfare as concepts at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show, as portion of the 50th birthday celebration for Mini. Their design and style was credited to Marcus Syring (who also penned the BMW Z3 coupe) and was most notable for the steeper windshield, squashed roofline (2 inches reduce than a common Mini), and vestigial trunk.
The Coupe reached dealerships in the fall of 2011 the Roadster followed a year later. Solution positioning for each, however, was problematic. Mini tried to position the convertible as the return of the British roadster, but it wasn’t precisely that. And the Coupe was just, uh, various. Via 2014, worldwide sales amounted to only 27,350 for the Coupe and 28,867 for the Roadster.
Numbers like that mean the duo had been niche autos, and Mini’s strategy going forward is to concentrate as an alternative on core products—or “superheroes,” in the words of Peter Schwarzenbauer, the BMW Group board member under whose purview Mini falls. That indicates the lineup could shrink to just 5 models: Hardtop, in 2-door, 4-door, and convertible forms Clubman, a new version of which is due this summer time Countryman, which ought to migrate to the new platform next year a sports vehicle along the lines of the Superleggera concept and, potentially, a smaller city auto. Notice what’s missing here? Yep, the Paceman. We count on that will be the next Mini to follow the Coupe and the Roadster down that final off-ramp.
The Party’s More than for Mini Coupe and Roadster—They’re Dead
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