STUD or DUD: Is MINI's Countryman Going To Tear Up The Jeep Wrangler's Of The World?

STUD or DUD: Is MINI's Countryman Going To Tear Up The Jeep Wrangler's Of The World?
MINI has taken the plunge! No longer is the British brand selling small Coopers and Clubmans anymore. Looking to take on the four-wheel drive market, comes the Countryman.

But is a bigger, stretched and proper four-door MINI what you were looking for? Does this car "work" for you?

Is this more compelling than a Jeep?

No word has been made if this will be making it stateside...

**UPDATE** A MINI spokesperson has informed us that the Countryman will be making it to our shores "early next year."

Stay tuned for more details...

Autocar reports:

"This is the Mini Countryman, the newest and model in the four-strong Mini line-up.

Official details of the Mini Countryman - which will go on sale in the UK in September from around £17,000 - have now been confirmed by the company.

It will go on sale with the choice of three petrol and two diesel engines, ranging in power from 89bhp in the One D Countryman to 181bhp in the Cooper S Countryman.

For the first time the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in the top model comes with a twin-scroll turbocharger..."


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LACMANLACMAN - 1/20/2010 10:22:25 AM
+10 Boost
Yea, yea, yea. Its nice but whats with the title of this article?


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 10:35:24 AM
-11 Boost
Simple question. THIS or a Wrangler? Will it be able to compete with Jeep's legacy?


Bmw8terBmw8ter - 1/20/2010 12:50:30 PM
+9 Boost
Some of Jeep's own lineup can't even compete with Jeep's legacy.


quizzquizz - 1/20/2010 11:05:35 AM
+14 Boost
LOL this Mini is NOT made to compete with the Wrangler. What a stupid title. This is clearly an attempt at competing with RAV4 and CRV and not a "serious" off-road product.

The subject heading is absurdly misleading...


M35MTM35MT - 1/21/2010 12:35:11 PM
+3 Boost
Exactly

This will be purchased by latte-sipping yuppies living in Cambridge, MA. I don't think a Wrangler driver fits into that category (even though for some reason Chrysler thinks it's now a good idea to market the Wrangler as a 'chick car' that you "mess up your freshly done salon hair by driving your Wrangler with the top down because you are 'jeep'" ya ok not buying it.


CarCrazedinCaliCarCrazedinCali - 1/20/2010 11:06:38 AM
+12 Boost
Should be this or a patriot/compass? This MINI is not meant to be a hardcore off-roader like the Wrangler


CarCrazedinCaliCarCrazedinCali - 1/21/2010 12:39:25 AM
+7 Boost
Frankly, the picture posted isn't even of a 4wd MINI, way to go Agent 00R. Only a Cooper S, which is the only trim offering 4wd, should AND IF THAT be compared to a Jeep.


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 11:41:29 AM
-8 Boost
What percentage of Wrangler buyers actually use their car offroad...

-insert crickets here-


pennfootballpennfootball - 1/20/2010 11:44:29 AM
+10 Boost
MANY Wrangler buyers use them off road over 35%-45% and Wrangler Rubicon owners over 80% use them off road.


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 11:50:56 AM
-13 Boost
Rubicon is a niche vehicle.


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 11:52:49 AM
-8 Boost
And where are you pulling this research from? Pls. link to shut me up.


theoptimisticpessimisttheoptimisticpessimist - 1/20/2010 2:34:48 PM
+15 Boost
""In a world where only 15% of SUV owners ever go off road, Jeep says 60% of Wrangler owners do; for Rubicon models, its 80%. Those percentages are the industry's highest, says Kevin Metz, Wrangler brand manager. (Next highest, he says, is the Hummer H3, at 30%.)"

ConsumerGuide Automotive
http://4wheeldrive.about.com/od/offroad4x4atv4wd/a/offroadstats.htm

Not a wrangler threat. Autospies FLAMES another headline.




Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 4:01:44 PM
-10 Boost
@optimistic

Not sure if I believe data from Jeep but I'll shut up for you ;)


bfghemicudabfghemicuda - 1/20/2010 4:08:32 PM
+12 Boost
Agent00R, With all due respect, From your responses it seems you don't have a clue of the off road community. Jeep is the icon. The data from Jeep is correct.


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 4:50:50 PM
-7 Boost
@bfg

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, you have to remember data points coming from a company should always raise a brow.

The best data points are taken from independent research groups, no matter the subject.

Yeah, I know ConsumerGuide Automotive but they didn't do a focus group of randomly selected people and the whole nine yards.



theoptimisticpessimisttheoptimisticpessimist - 1/20/2010 7:32:57 PM
+8 Boost
Agent00R

For the record I own a Jeep (Grand Cherokee) it goes off-road a lot.


pennfootballpennfootball - 1/21/2010 10:33:17 AM
+6 Boost
Having a Jeep is belonging to a brother hood of off road enthusiasts. theoptimisticpessimist is the man!


pennfootballpennfootball - 1/21/2010 10:39:59 AM
+6 Boost
Think about it the HUGE aftermarket industry surrounding the Jeep Wrangler just supplying parts, suspension lift kits, differential lockers and everything you can imagine in between for it! We are talking hundreds of millions if not over a billion dollars.

Jeep also sells 106,000+ Wranglers a year and would sell more if the 1 factory they make them was not maxed out in production capacity. They are the only vehicle that went up in demand in this financial crises that Chrysler sells besides the Challenger!


BondMI6BondMI6 - 1/20/2010 12:42:43 PM
+6 Boost
Kinda fugly- dud IMHO.....


CarCrazedinCaliCarCrazedinCali - 1/20/2010 12:58:17 PM
+4 Boost
I can see people cross shopping the S ALL4 model with Subarus as well


SpectatorSpectator - 1/20/2010 1:24:48 PM
+5 Boost
Wasn't this posted before?...

http://www.autospies.com/news/2010-DETROIT-PREVIEW-STUD-or-DUD-Does-MINI-s-Beach-Crusier-Make-You-Say-What-Jeep-50449/


Agent00RAgent00R - 1/20/2010 3:58:56 PM
-5 Boost
No, that was the Beachcomber Concept.


SpectatorSpectator - 1/21/2010 10:30:25 AM
+4 Boost
My mistake...I dont know what I was thinking when I didn't catch this before. This is quite obviously an entirly differnt vehicle with no connection at all to the prior post...nor was the jeep comparison the same either. That was entirly different too, right? :)


r_driver04r_driver04 - 1/20/2010 1:46:22 PM
+9 Boost
There's 2 minutes of my life I won't get back.....ever.


Bmw8terBmw8ter - 1/20/2010 7:19:19 PM
+8 Boost
More so idiotic title than thread.


commander104commander104 - 1/20/2010 7:21:21 PM
+6 Boost
The Defender and FJ Cruiser are the only things in the world that have even remotely competed with the Wrangler. --Unless Mini researched their customers and found out that most of their customers own a Wrangler and want that business too--i don't see it.


M35MTM35MT - 1/21/2010 12:39:33 PM
+2 Boost
xterra...?


LUXCAR32LUXCAR32 - 1/20/2010 8:50:38 PM
+4 Boost
Yeah, not exactly a jeep competitor as is, maybe with the patriot, definitly not the wrangler.

I'm hoping they'll have a "beachcomber" type trim available eventually. jacked up with big wheels.


JUGNUJUGNU - 1/20/2010 9:56:35 PM
+1 Boost
This is not a mini any more. BMW is stretching the Mini brand too much. More than Rav4 and CRV, Qashqai, Nissan's new Juke, BMW's own X1..etc seem more direct competitors.

JUGNU


TheDepressingTruthTheDepressingTruth - 1/21/2010 3:48:49 AM
+8 Boost
More like the MINI answer to the Subaru Outback...

Only you would be STUPID to take the MINI off-road..

As we say in Texas...All Hat, No Cattle


truckmantruckman - 1/21/2010 5:06:38 AM
+7 Boost
LOL , I am trying to stop laughing at the thought of this off road, and even more absurd is this competing with the Wrangler off road, Even you car guys get it. laughing is good for your health, thanks.


thstonethstone - 1/21/2010 7:29:14 PM
-1 Boost
DUD. Last thing the world needs is another small crossover.


Type707Type707 - 1/22/2010 12:08:04 AM
+1 Boost
I think the Countryman looks allright...but its not an off-road vehicle like the cayenne
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