Fourth-gen MINI lineup will be limited to four or five models

BMW board member Peter Schwarzenbauer recently said that the fourth generation of the MINI will be restricted to just four or five models.

Still pretty long time for the models to be out as they are due towards the end of the decade, the fourth-gen MINI lineup will have just “four or five hero cars” as against the current family which will likely encompass up to seven models. In addition, MINI is planning a new design approach which will further differentiate the models and the company will also focus on improving the build quality of these models.

Some of the new designs could come from a newly established design studio in London which Schwarzenbauer wants. The models are expected to be larger in size and a large SUV could be in the pipeline for a release somewhere in 2017, while a Golf-rivaling hatchback with an estimated cost of 17,000 GBP is also quite possible.

MINI will be taken further upmarket while some strategists over at BMW are concerned that some of the current models have strained too far from the company’s roots.