SPY PICS: MINI Aceman hitches a ride

A pre-production MINI Aceman has been spotted on the back of a truck in Munich, giving us our first proper look at what MINI’s next-generation compact SUV will look like in finished form.

Wrapped in black and yellow camouflage, the MINI Aceman prototype was sandwiched onto a trailer between and on top of multiple other disguised BMW test vehicles – including a next-gen BMW M5 – and stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to its bulbous styling style cues and rounded body.

What we can see of the front-end is dominated by the plump headlights that have become a fixture on modern MINIs, but in this case they’ve been reshaped in line with the Aceman concept car and almost point in towards the centre badge.

The chunky crossover stance has also been maintained, albeit with the overall muscularity and alloy wheel size toned down a bit, but the pronounced hipline and bubble-butt booty have remained.

Look closely and you’ll see the tail-lights are actually fakes, with a couple of holes cut into the camo for the beams to peek through, exposing the signature half Union Jack lighting motif.

In fact, it’s probably the back-end that varies the most from the concept, which featured a flush-sitting tailgate and did without provisions for a numberplate.

That last detail has been amended on the prototype with a sizeable recess taken out of the vast rear bumper, which should house the boot release button and maintains the concept’s gently upward curving shape along its bottom edge.

Unlike the next-generation MINI Hatch and MINI Countryman, which will offer the choice of internal combustion or electric power, the Aceman will be battery-electric only and underpinned by a bespoke architecture developed in tandem with GWM.

This co-development will also see the box-fresh crossover, which will effectively replace the MINI 5-Dr Hatch and Clubman wagon, produced in China following its official reveal next year, followed by its global launch in mid-2024.

Two battery sizes and two power outputs are expected to make up the initial range, before a hard-core John Cooper Works version joins the ranks a bit further down the line.

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