BMW is no stranger to creating niches for its vehicles, and what you see here is no exception. The MINI brand will debut its Paceman Concept at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit next month, and with it the announcement that this is the first Sports Activity Coupe in the premium segment.
Effectively a two-door MINI Countryman, it retains the same dimensions but adds the coupe style. The press release describes the target market best:
It is the ideal car for young, modern, extrovert urbanites who love the hallmark MINI go-kart feeling, enjoy stand-out individuality, place great importance on the personality of a brand and buy into its character and ethos. They are confident types, who live according to their own style and express their distinctive individuality in a MINI, who use the big-city mobility the MINI provides to embark on voyages of discovery through the urban jungle, and who experience driving fun in its most concentrated form thanks to the excellent ride comfort of the MINI both in everyday driving and over long journeys.
Larger 19-inch wheels have been used on the concept car, while the front end has been styled to mimic the regular MINI Cooper, rather than the bluff front end of the MINI Countryman.
The C-pillar has been used as a transition from the side windows to the rear window, giving what MINI calls a “helmet roof”. It also serves to keep the MINI values of separating – in style terms at least – the body, glasshouse and roof.
Under the bonnet is the familar 1.6-litre turbocharged four cylinder from the MINI Cooper John Cooper Works. It produces 155kW and 260Nm (280Nm in overboost mode). And of course, being based on the Countryman, the Paceman is all-wheel-drive.
No word as yet on whether this will go into production, but given the BMW Group’s penchant for cranking out a new model every few minutes, it’s almost certain we’ll see this in a few years.
