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According to BMW brand boss Wolfgang Armbrecht, MINI might be developing a small vehicle for BMW. This will be the smallest vehicle that BMW will sell. Armbrecht told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper that they have “always been motivated by the idea to build a small spacious car,” so BMW enthusiasts must “keep a close eye on the coming months.”
BMW’s development chief Klaus Draeger reminded MINI to not make too many large cars to protect their brand image. Given the task of making a small car for BMW will be perfect for MINI to come back to their true expertise.
As of now, MINI has plans for product expansion to increase their annual sales to 300,000 units. They will be launching both coupe and cabriolet versions of a new roadster next year. MINI sold 208,830 units from January to November 2010 — a 5.4% increase from their 2009 sales.
Armbrecht also sees the need for MINI’s dealer network to develop within the next decade. Currently, only 50% of MINI’s 1,300 global dealers are exclusive dealerships. They plan to change this to 100%.
Source: Autonews
