The Mini Countryman crossover could be followed by a three-door model, currently dubbed ‘Canyon’, based on the Countryman platform but aimed at a slightly different market, described as the ‘corporate image’ demographic. The Mini Canyon would be a compact, four-wheel-drive vehicle and takes on the BMW ‘SAV’ label as a small, Mini sports activity vehicle.

According to reports, the Mini Canyon would compete with the Land Rover Evoque, although we were expecting it to be a much smaller vehicle than the new English SUV. It’s clear that the SUV market is developing and its corporate appeal has been ensured ever since luxury brands such as Porsche, with its Cayenne, entered the market.

Where, exactly, Mini wants to go with its image though, is anyone’s guess. It has been able to maintain its cute, quirky British image and is still considered and icon of retro style. But the new Countryman has radically changed that and a possible Canyon version shows that Mini is serious about expanding its product line-up.

Mini probably couldn’t be a niche player forever but we have our doubts about just how far they can stretch the Mini brand onto new models. The Mini Coupé and Mini Roadster concept models were spot on for the Mini brand and we’re still waiting to see the production models of these cars. Sometimes keeping things in house style - simple and clear for a well-loved brand - makes more sense than developing new models that take the brand in a direction that is difficult to define.

Source | AutoEvolution and BMWBlog

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