MINI to slash pricing

Expect the smarter, roomier, cheekier and more efficient new MINI to also be cheaper than its predecessor when BMW’s third-generation retro-car goes on sale in Australia in April.

BMW Australia expects to increase sales with the arrival of the new model, which will feature a host of new technologies, including a head-up display, automated parallel parking, internet radio and even a mischievous 'excitement analyser'.

Local pricing for the latest urban-savvy micro, which is being launched globally in Puerto Rico this week, has not been announced, but MINI Australia spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher indicated the MkIII MINI will be a more affordable proposition than the model it replaces.

“People will be pleasantly surprised by the pricing and the specification levels of the MINI,” she said.

The cheapest MINI available in Australia at present is the MINI Ray, pegged at $25,600 plus on-road costs. However, the most affordable MkIII model from launch will be the Cooper, which currently starts at $31,650 plus ORCs.

Expect the new MINI to therefore arrive with a sub-$30,000 starting price for the Cooper, but with increased specification to keep the cool kid in town, Mercedes-Benz's latest A-Class, honest.

While the cheaper but larger new A-Class starts from $35,600 – the same price as BMW’s cheapest 1 Series – direct premium-light rivals for the MINI include Alfa Romeo’s MiTo (from $25,200), Audi’s A1, which is priced from $26,500 and outsold the outgoing MINI last month, and Citroen’s DS3 (from $27,740).

Fletcher confirmed Australia’s “repositioned” MINI pricing and specification will be revealed in mid-March, but insists the sell-out success of the A-Class hatch has not forced its hand.

“We're certainly conscious of what competitors are doing but we really are running our own race in terms of ensuring a line-up that remains attractively priced and featured, but also sustainable,” she said.

All new MINI models are underpinned by BMW's new UKL platform and will be available with six-speed manual and automatic transmissions.

Priced from under $30K, the entry-level Cooper is fitted with 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that is more powerful yet more efficient than the previous 90kW engine, generating 100kW/220Nm and consuming just 4.6L/100km.

Acceleration performance has been greatly improved, with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 7.8 seconds in automatic form, slashing 2.6 seconds off the benchmark sprint.

The diesel-powered MINI D will also be equipped with a 1.5-litre three-pot, its turbo-diesel engine pumping out 85kW/270Nm and drinking fuel at the hybrid-beating rate of only 3.5L/100km with a manual gearbox (3.7L/100km with the auto).

Sitting pretty at the top of the range will be the MINI Cooper S. It ditched the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine previously shared with Peugeot in favour of a beefier 2.0-litre turbo four worth 141kW/280Nm. It also retains an overboost feature to momentarily hike torque to 300Nm, but driven carefully can achieve fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km.

The Cooper S will dash to 100km/h in 6.7 seconds and is likely to be priced at under $40,000.

As with most compact cars, the iconic MINI has grown in size, bringing major gains in boot and rear seat space. It's longer by 98mm (now 3821mm from bumper to bumper) and wider by 44mm (now 1727mm in width), which affords 211 litres of boot space (up 51 litres) and a 23mm longer rear seat.

For a more detailed look at the car's changes check out the reveal story we published when the new MINI made its global debut at the 2013 Los Angeles motor show.

On top of the new engines and increased girth, the latest MINI gets an all-new exterior design, though from a distance you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference -- which should please long-time admirers. New-look LED front running lights are the most obvious visual difference.

The interior retains a giant central speedo but now gets a head-up display showing at-a-glance road speed and other info. A more advanced multi-media infotainment system with an 8.8-inch screen is also part of the package.

MINI will launch its latest model in Australia in April with the three models mentioned, but other variants will go on sale here throughout this year, probably including a budget-priced Ray hatch variant and the new MINI Cabrio drop-top.

Fletcher confirmed the new high-performance John Cooper Works (JCW) will come to Australia, but not before 2015.

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