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Mini five-door hatch, new Clubman wagon spied together

The third-generation Mini family is set to grow, with the all-new five-door hatchback variant spied alongside what appears to be a production-ready version of the new Clubman wagon.


While no production version of the Clubman has yet been confirmed, the company did showcase a concept six-door wagon at the 2014 Geneva motor show in March. It is expected the saleable version will also feature a six-door layout, with barn rear doors a carryover from the existing model, but with a more practical twin rear door layout (the current version has a small rear door behind the driver's-side door).

The flatter roof of the Clubman and squared-off rear end clearly delineates it against the round-roofed five-door hatch version of the Mini Cooper S, which boasts a large glass roof and low-profile roof-rails.

Mini says the five-door car will be revealed later in 2014 - we'd expect it to show up at the 2014 Paris motor show in October - and it appears clear the new model will be offered with the entry-level Cooper 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine with 100kw/220Nm, a Cooper D version with a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo diesel with 85kW/270Nm, and the range-topping Cooper S with a 2.0-litre turbo producing 141kW/280Nm. Read all the specifications of the Mini Cooper three-door range here.

Mini Australia product communications manager Scott Croaker told CarAdvice he expects the five-door Cooper to tick a box for many local buyers who had previously ruled out a Mini due to its less practical three-door layout.

"The market is a bit more skewed towards five-door hatchbacks. We'd be very interested in offering that sort of car locally, and we'd expect to see if probably towards the end of this year," Croaker said.

Croaker said that while there's no official confirmation for a new-generation Clubman, the brand is likely to offer the wagon model.

"I'd assume the model portfolio will continue as it is - which would mean a new version of the Clubman will be launched. That's our expectation," he said, but indicated there's not much chance of that car arriving here until 2015 if it does make it to production.

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