BMW’s plans for Mini and Rolls-Royce in the 2020s
Recent chapters in the future vehicles series on BMW Group had cars, then SUVs as their focus, followed by M and i divisions. The series now concludes with Zinoro, Mini and Rolls-Royce.
Zinoro
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The 60H, a plug-in hybrid SUV for BMW and Brilliance’s China-only Zinoro brand is based on the long-wheelbase BMW X1.
The Zinoro Concept Next from the 2015 Shanghai motor show provided some of the production model’s styling cues. The 60H replaced the lease-only Zinoro 1E. And while the 1E was an EV, the 60H is a PHEV powered by a 1.5-litre turbo three-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor.
A facelift is due in 2021. Depending on what becomes of BMW Group’s JV with Brilliance – the German firm might be allowed to buy out its Chinese partner – the Zinoro brand could be axed. If that doesn’t happen, expect the partners to launch a 60H replacement in 2024.
A second Zinoro model is expected to appear in 2019. The 3E should be closely related to the iX3, an electrified version of the X3. Production of both will take place on the same line within Brilliance-BMW’s DaDong plant in Shenyang.
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The A segment ‘Mini Minor‘, whilst not confirmed for production, might be back in the planning stages, although production would not start until the 2020s. Before being shelved in 2012, there was a project to create a small hatchback and convertible range to rival the Fiat 500.
The Rocketman concept, which debuted at the Geneva motor show in March 2011, was the inspiration. A second Rocketman prototype was displayed at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in July/August/September 2012. Nothing came of these cars due to several factors: the lack of a suitable platform, the cost of developing one and no obvious place to manufacture such a model.
BMW now has some fresh options which could see the idea of a Rocketman/Minor being revived. Expanding the alliance with Toyota is one way that a small car could be brought to market, especially if it could be manufactured in a low-cost country: BMW is having plants erected in Mexico and Hungary. The other alternative is to bring this model into Spotlight Automotive, the newly announced Chinese JV with Great Wall Motor. This will see a factory built in Jiangsu province’s Zhangjiagang Economic & Technological Development Zone.
The best selling Mini is of course the range which comprises three- and five-door hatchbacks plus a convertible. Production of BMW’s third generation Mini commenced in England in November 2013. This was the first car for BMW Group’s UKL1 platform. Names vary: the three-door is called ‘Hatch’ in Europe and ‘2 door Hardtop’ in North America, while the five-door is the 4 door Hardtop in the USA and other countries in the Americas.
Following the July 2012 sale agreement of Mitsubishi Motors’ NedCar plant in The Netherlands to Dutch bus firm VDL, a deal was struck with BMW Group for assembly of Mini vehicles. The first model, the three-door hatchback, has been assembled at Born since August 2014. The Convertible is only made at the Dutch plant: it is not manufactured in England. The open-top car had its world premiere at October 2015’s Tokyo motor show.
Facelifted Minis had their world debuts at the Detroit auto show in January. This update mostly concerned exterior lights, plus a new 1.5-litre petrol engine with more torque for the Mini One and a seven-speed DSG also new across the range. The updated cars went on sale from March and are new in North America for the region’s 2019 model year. No further major updates are expected. Production should continue until late 2020 although some believe it could be extended well into 2021.
There is speculation that the next generation Mini three- and five-door hatchbacks could be amongst the models which BMW will manufacture at the Hungarian plant which it announced in July 2018. This factory will be near Debrecen, the country’s second largest city, about 200 km east of Budapest. Initial capacity will be 150,000 vehicles per annum.
BMW will almost certainly continue to manufacture the hatchbacks in England and the Mini Convertible in The Netherlands, while there should also be build in China too. In February, BMW Group issued a media release which stated that it was in discussions with Great Wall Motor over potential production of electric Minis in China. This then became the Spotlight JV, BMW AG and GWM signing an agreement in July, with the factory’s location having been revealed a few days ago.
The FAAR-based Hatch/Hardtop, 5-door Hatch and Convertible may begin to be rolled out from 2020. There would then be facelifts in 2024 and replacements in 2017. FAAR, short for Frontantriebsarchitektur, is BMW Group’s next generation architecture for front- and all-wheel drive vehicles. It replaces UKL1 and UKL2.
Speaking in September 2016, BMW Group CEO Harald Krueger said an electric Mini was under development and due for release in 2019. He did not state where it would be built. Why BMW will have needed almost three years to develop a battery-electric version of an existing car is not clear.
European production of what may be called the Cooper E will be at Cowley. This fact was announced in July 2017. The drivetrain will be made at BMW Group’s Dingolfing and Landshut plants in Bavaria. Production at what is officially called BMW Plant Oxford is due to commence in August 2019.
A preview in the form of the Electric Concept premiered at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2017.
As the Cooper E will be based on the existing hatchback, production should end in 2020, at which time a fresh model will be launched. The next generation electric Mini will use BMW Group’s FAAR platform. It should be manufactured until 2027 with a facelift in 2024.
It is not fully understood why BMW would be putting the Cooper E into production right at the end of the current model’s life cycle. For this reason, some believe that the next Mini three-, five- and two-door cars will be either brought forward to 2019 or pushed back to 2021 or 2022.
The second generation Countryman was announced to the media in October 2016, a few weeks ahead of its debut at the Los Angeles auto show. It is built in the Netherlands by VDL, not in Austria by Magna Steyr, as was the case with the first generation model. There is also some assembly at relevant plants. F60 replaced not just the first generation Countryman, but the slow-selling Paceman too. The car is 20cm longer, making it at launch the largest Mini yet.
The Countryman went on sale across Europe from February 2017 and just one month later in North America, new for the 2017 model year.
In addition to a PHEV variant, there were four initial versions:
- Cooper Countryman: 100kW (136hp) & 220Nm 1,499cc three-cylinder petrol
- Cooper S Countryman: 141kW (192hp) & 280Nm 1,998cc four-cylinder petrol
- Cooper D Countryman: 110kW (150hp) & 330Nm 1,995cc four-cylinder diesel
- Cooper SD Countryman: 140kW (190hp) & 400Nm 1,995cc four-cylinder diesel
The John Cooper Works Countryman premiered at the Shanghai motor show in April 2017. The JCW is powered by a 170kW (231hp) and 350Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo. It went on sale from April 2017, one month after production at VDL Nedcar commenced.
A five-door Countryman Coupé may be an additional bodystyle to come. If rumours of such a model are to be believed, look to 2019 for the debut of a concept which heralds a production vehicle. BMW may delay this car until 2020 or later though, so as to base it on FAAR, a lower cost and more advanced platform.
Apart from badging and a charging port on the front wing, the Cooper S E Countryman ALL4, a plug-in hybrid, looks just like the Countryman. Its powertrain is BMW Group’s 100kW (136hp) 1,499cc three-cylinder petrol engine plus one rear-mounted electric motor and a 7.7kWh lithium ion battery pack. Drive to the front wheels is via a six-speed Steptronic transmission, while the 65kW (88hp) motor sends torque to the rear axle.
System power is 165kW (224hp) with total torque of 385Nm. The car can run for up to 40km on its battery pack, with a top speed in EV mode of 125km/h.
Production at VDL Nedcar commenced in March 2017 and the car went on sale from May 2017. The public debut was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2017.
As with other versions of the Countryman, BMW will give the PHEV variant a facelift in 2020. The future Countryman changes architectures, moving from UKL2 to FAAR in 2023.
The Clubman, a special wagon model, made its public debut at the 2015 Frankfurt IAA. ALL4 variants were announced in January 2016 and became available in European markets three months later.
A facelifted Clubman is on schedule for sales release in 2019. In North America, this will be for the 2020 model year. The Clubman replacement, due in 2022, moves to the FAAR architecture. This car will likely become a crossover but retain its length of around 4.2 metres, sized above the next Mini hatchbacks and below the Countryman.
There is one remaining potential future Mini. Like the Rocketman/Minor, it is a project which has been shelved at least once and there is no guarantee that it will reach production. This proposed rival for the Mazda MX-5 had been expected to share some of the styling of the Superleggera Vision. That car, a concept, was revealed at the Villa D’Este Concorso d’Elegazanza in May 2014. There was a central spine on the bootlid and the tail lights were styled to look like part of Britain’s union flag.
The Superleggera would be the replacement for the Mini roadster, production of which ceased in March 2015. BMW Group may instead decide to develop a four-door car rather than a roadster as a means of expanding Mini brand sales. On the other hand, a JV with Toyota is potentially possible. That could also involve a theoretical BMW Z2 as a way of making a business case for a small sports car project by creating three vehicles: one for Toyota, one for Mini and one for BMW.
Rolls-Royce
The Ghost is the current entry point to the Rolls-Royce brand. BMW is yet to comment on reports that it is considering developing another model positioned at around the same pricing level or possibly below where its least expensive sedan presently sits. This would be a second SUV, sized around the 4,800-5,000mm mark and therefore about half a metre shorter than the Cullinan.
The parent firm has spent a lot on Rolls-Royce in recent years. Now, it needs to see decent returns before committing yet more funds. So for the moment, any additional vehicle is likely to be as far off as 2022 at the earliest.
In theory, the Spartanburg plant in South Carolina would manufacture the body-in-white of this vehicle, potentially a rival for the Lamborghini Urus, the basic platform being shared with the BMW X7. As with other Rolls-Rolls models, final assembly would take place at the Goodwood factory in England.
RR4, the Ghost, might be smaller than the brand’s other saloon, yet it is still an XL-sized car. Sales having commenced in December 2009, this is Rolls-Royce’s oldest model.
The engine is the BMW-engineered 420kW (563bhp) turbocharged 6,592cc V12 engine. A limited edition V-Specification variant built between January and June 2014 added 22kW (30hp). The only transmission is an eight-speed automatic supplied by ZF.
The Ghost is based on an obsolete BMW 7 Series platform. The body is manufactured in Germany. Final assembly is at Goodwood on a dedicated line.
An additional variant, the Ghost Extended Wheelbase, had its global premiere at the Shanghai motor show in April 2011. The stretched Ghost went on sale in the UK in September 2011.
A facelifted model premiered at the Geneva motor show in March 2014, followed in recent years by some minor changes at infrequent intervals. The Ghost successor is due for release in just over a year’s time, with a new Ghost EW inked in for launch during 2021. Electric versions of both seem likely too, probably in 2022.
The Wraith is now less than 12 months away from a mid-life refresh. This large coupe had its global debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2013, going on sale from the fourth quarter of that year. The sole engine is a 465kW version of the 6,592cc turbocharged V12 driving through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Torque is quoted as 800Nm. Curb weight is 2,435kg.
BMW should soon be starting development of the Wraith successor. This car will most likely be revealed in early 2023 and in showrooms towards the end of that year. The E65 platform of the current car will be ditched in favour of BMW Group’s latest aluminium spaceframe, the official name of which is Rolls-Royce Architecture of Luxury.
The Dawn, the codename of which is RR6, was a world premiere was at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2015. It can be thought of as the Wraith convertible.
Despite its 5,285mm length, the Dawn is a 2+2. The engine is the same as the Ghost’s: a 420kW 6.6-litre biturbo V12 which produces 780Nm of torque. The car weighs a phenomenal 2,560kg. There should be a facelift in 2021, roughly five years ahead of its replacement.
A Dawn successor will be based on an updated version of the spaceframe architecture which is used for the Cullinan and Phantom. There will surely also be a fully electric next generation Dawn.
RR31, which was the development code for the Cullinan, is the first SUV for Rolls-Royce. Shown to the media in May, the first deliveries will take place in early 2019. The engine is BMW’s 6,749cc biturbo V12 as used by the Phantom. In the Cullinan, the outputs are 420kW (563bhp) and 850Nm (627lb ft).
For the first time in a Rolls-Royce there is an opening tailgate. The marketing department refers to this as ‘The Clasp’. In a nod to the era when luggage was mounted on the exterior of the car, the rear profile of the Cullinan is a two-part, ‘D-Back’ format, with the bustle denoting the place of the luggage. The boot opens and closes in its two sections automatically via the key fob.
CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös stated in a July 2017 interview that he didn’t believe hybrids were part of the future for Rolls-Royce. Instead, he noted that a fully electric R-R would likely appear one day but that it was not imminent. Just weeks later, Harald Krüger, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG told the media, “We will be increasing the share of electrified models across all brands and model series. And, yes, that also includes the Rolls-Royce brand and BMW M vehicles.” Therefore, BMW will likely begin selling an electric Cullinan in the early 2020s.
The addition of this 5,341mm long SUV should ensure that Rolls-Royce is able to sell in excess of 5,000 vehicles a year. In 2017, it delivered only 3,362 cars, which was a 16 per cent decline compared to 4,011 in 2016.
What Rolls-Royce calls the Phantom VIII was the first vehicle to use the brand’s latest aluminium spaceframe architecture. This enormous sedan has a 6.7-litre biturbo BMW V12 engine, four-wheel steering, pneumatic suspension and weighs a minimum of 2,560kg. The car had its public debut at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2017.
The standard wheelbase Phantom is 5.76m long, with the EWB measuring 5.98m. In the home market, where the car became available from November 2017, prices started at GBP360,000 for the Phantom and from GBP432,000 for the Phantom Extended Wheelbase.
An electric Phantom will follow, Rolls-Royce says. That will likely be added in 2020. It is not understood just how BMW will give such a weighty car – inevitably far heavier even than Teslas – an adequate range. For this reason, some believe that electrification for the Phantom, Cullinan and other models might instead mean petrol-electric.
Facelifts for all Phantom variants should take place in 2023 with production continuing until 2029. Other than a major reduction in weight, it is too early to know even the basics of what BMW is thinking for the successor.
Recent reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on the past, current and forthcoming models for BMW AG’s car brands can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE.
The next manufacturer to be featured in the future models reports series will be Aston Martin Lagonda.
