Remastering a classic: Mini's new design language is more than skin-deep

Mini has launched an all-new design language dubbed Charismatic Simplicity charged with spearheading the British brand into an all-electric era, but the styling is more than skin-deep and brings a corresponding evolution in technology as well.

Now exclusively battery powered, the 2024 Mini Cooper hatch has young drivers and the environmentally conscious in its sights, while the larger Countryman focuses on an audience later in life but with similar principles.

Speaking at the new Mini family launch, BMW Group (including Mini) head of design Adrian van Hooydonk explained how the new design direction goes hand-in-hand with a significant leap in technology to broaden the brand's appeal.

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"We are now living in a time where a lot of things are changing in society very quickly and I see people wanting a new kind of car that is not only electric - I think that's a given – but it is also much more intelligent and much more sustainable," he said. "That's such a big bundle of changes that I think it deserves a new look and feel.

"What we're doing with Mini and BMW is not just creating something new and different, we're creating something that is very true to the origins and reduces the BMW and Mini brand back to its core, it's original beginnings and what people absolutely love.

"We want these changes to be accepted by a very wide audience."

Part of the appeal will be in a bolstered technological offering with the new brace of Minis revealed in Munich last month debuting the latest information and entertainment - Mini Operating System 9.

Now exclusively battery powered, the 2024 Mini Cooper hatch has young drivers and the environmentally conscious in its sights.

Adding to that cutting-edge tech feel is Mini's first dedicated electric platform and drivetrain which has been created in partnership with Chinese electric giant GWM. This, says Hooydonk is all represented by the new styling direction, but creating a new simple design was far harder than it looks.

"What the team did is great because, [while] it does look simple, they are probably the most complicated and complex technologically advanced Minis that we've ever built. If in that first glance it looks simple and easy to use then that's a job well done.

"Also a design that is clean and simple probably will stand the test of time quite well - it can hold its value for a long time and it will make easy for people to fall in love with this new kind of mobility because, on a rational level, everyone knows it has to go electric and be more sustainable but it's what stands in front of you that counts."

As young people increasingly rely on public transport and car-sharing services today rather than passing their driving test and spending cash on car ownership, Hooydonk believes the new generation of Minis has the potential to attract more young drivers whether they want to buy a car or not.

Adding to that cutting-edge tech feel is Mini’s first dedicated electric platform and drivetrain which has been created in partnership with Chinese electric giant GWM.

When asked if the Mini will encourage more young people to be interested in cars, Hooydonk replied: "It could well do that, exactly."

"For the urban environment, Mini is predestined to play a big role or maybe even a bigger role than today. Those car sharing companies, if they want to have a lot of young customers they might want to consider getting some Minis. People always say those who use car sharing don't care what car they use but that's not entirely true.

"Maybe these products will get younger people excited sooner.

"It's not that they aren't excited by personal mobility, perhaps they get their driving license a little bit later in life but one day they'll want to have a cool car."