Jim McDowell, BMW's MINI brand vice president in the US told the source the manufacturer is eyeing 19 stores to be added, most of them in secondary markets where Mini ownership is high. The GM and Chrysler dealership closure left room for MINI to enter new markets, not because their vehicles compete in the same segment, but because now real-estate is available.
"As the market has gone through these changes, it has made real estate available for Mini in places where we want to be," McDowell was quoted as saying by the source. Just to give an example, MINI will open a store in a former Cadillac dealership in Birmingham, Alabama and one in a former Chrysler dealership in Alexandria, Virginia.
As for the line-up, the next two years will prove to be very fruitful for the British manufacturer. MINI has already presented the Coupe Concept, as it gets ready to debut in Frankfurt next week, while the crossover has already been spied undergoing testing.
The production version of the Coupe Concept has been somewhat confirmed by Norbert Reithofer, BMW CEO. He admitted the manufacturer will add two new model lines starting next year. Even if the CEO did not mention which models will be built on the respective lines, one will definitely belong to the crossover and the other is said to be reserved for the coupe.
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