THINK MINI, and you think compact, small, petite. Even though the current MINI towers over the 1959 original.
But now it’s time to think again.
Bigger.
The new MINI Clubman: it’s more family hatch than supermini.
So if you’re in the market for an Audi A3, Mercedes A-Class or VW Golf as your next company car, it’s time you included the MINI on your list – the new MINI Clubman.
It’s gone from adolescent to adult – whereas before MINI was seen more as a second car, it’s sticking its paw in the air to become first choice car.
And the new MINI Clubman is the car to do it, reckons James Morrison, MINI corporate development manager. “As competitors have come into our niche, we didn’t want MINI to become irrelevant. So now is the time for MINI to become more grown up.”
It’s certainly got the looks: we saw the car at MINI’s HQ in a special corporate sales briefing. And it does look stunning: low roofline, seductive shape, but still recognisably MINI.
But has it got the beef to bash an A3 in the business car market? Let’s have a look at the sizes.
New MINI Clubman sizes up to the opposition
Mini Clubman
Length: 4253mm
Width: 1800mm
Height: 1441mm
Boot: 360cu m
Audi A3
Length: 4310mm
Width: 1785mm
Height: 1425mm
Boot: 380cu m
Mercedes A-Class
Length: 4292mm
Width: 1780mm
Height: 1433mm
Boot: 341cu m
VW Golf
Length: 4255mm
Width: 1799mm
Height: 1452mm
Boot: 380cu m
OK, so MINI is still just the most compact here – very slightly smaller than a Golf – but in the gymnasium of premium hatchbacks it’s punching its weight. Especially when you consider the width, the new MINI Clubman topping out with the widest shoulders to continue the gym analogy. And in boot space it’s ahead of the A Class, but behind the A3/Golf duo.
What about the specification, though?