Photo: Catalin Garmacea
MINI's all-new model renewal campaign will be over when the Countryman arrives. However, the Paceman also needs to be discontinued, something that will happen by the end of 2016.
According to a recent report from British media, the quirky 2-door Paceman will be abandoned in a few months. There's no official confirmation of this yet, and there probably never will be. However, Autocar reports that the Magna Steyr factory in Graz, Austria, needs the capacity for the next generation of the BMW 5 Series sedan.
The Paceman has been produced in Graz ever since 2012. Like many cars described using the word "quirky," it was apparent pretty soon that it was a bad idea. However, unlike the Coupe and Roadster, MINI let it live out the entirety of its life.
By modern MINI standards, the Paceman is weird in several ways. Even though it was criticized for being fat and bloated back when it was launched, at 4.1 meters in length, it's about the size of the 5-door hatchback. Both the all-new Countryman and the Clubman are considerably larger.
The second-generation Countryman will reap the benefits of these changes, and we should see a pickup in demand. The crossover will be the fourth model in the lineup, after the Hatch, Clubman and Convertible. There's likely to be an eventual fifth, which rumors suggest is either a small sedan on a production version of the Rocketman.
The Paceman has been produced in Graz ever since 2012. Like many cars described using the word "quirky," it was apparent pretty soon that it was a bad idea. However, unlike the Coupe and Roadster, MINI let it live out the entirety of its life.
By modern MINI standards, the Paceman is weird in several ways. Even though it was criticized for being fat and bloated back when it was launched, at 4.1 meters in length, it's about the size of the 5-door hatchback. Both the all-new Countryman and the Clubman are considerably larger.
It's also not that impressive regarding performance. The Cooper S offers a paltry 260 Nm (192 lb-ft) of torque and will get to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.8 to 8.2 seconds, depending on the gearbox and powertrain. As for the Cooper SD, it only has 143 hp and will get to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.4 seconds. That means that regular small SUVs like the SEAT Ateca or Ford Kuga are faster in their top configurations.
MINI has already fixed the performance problem by offering a more powerful diesel that goes up to 190 hp on some models and using a much larger 2.0-liter turbo for the Cooper S models.The second-generation Countryman will reap the benefits of these changes, and we should see a pickup in demand. The crossover will be the fourth model in the lineup, after the Hatch, Clubman and Convertible. There's likely to be an eventual fifth, which rumors suggest is either a small sedan on a production version of the Rocketman.
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