A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD FOR THE NEW ELECTRIC MINI COOPER SE

As we leave 2019 behind with a bit of nostalgia, we expect 2020 to be refreshing and inspiring! That is exactly what MINI accomplished with its 2019 60th anniversary edition and its 100% electric MINI Cooper SE which will enter the Québec market next March.

With its first EV, MINI marks the beginning of a new era that will surely attract new customers looking for an eco-friendly transportation mode adding thereby a new option for those addicted to the pleasure of driving. The EV version promises to be as fun to drive as its petrol version!

Last November, MINI Laval unveiled the brand’s first EV and for the occasion, I had the pleasure to meet with MINI Product Manager, Debra Roushore, from BMW Group Canada. In lieu of chatting about performance and specifications, I was curious to know how this first MINI EV might appeal to the female customers.

A girls talk about that dainty car that we all love!

If you’re quick enough, you can still get a hand on one of the firsts 100. But what’s special about them?

• MINI is all about customization, about dressing this car to suit your personality. Even though it’s a special edition, we’re doing it in advance so that the customer can still pick their roof color, the mirrors, the wheels. Like a nice pair of shoes you get to pick your wheels! That’s a unique element to a limited edition.
• Naming and badging are customised with a 3D printing. The number of the car (1/100) with the electric badge in it. This exclusive numbered badge outside of the car so you can tell from the first glance that’s it’s a bit different. And there’s the door entry with a 3D printing backlit with LED with the writing of « First Edition »

What are the 5 strenghts of the New electric MINI Cooper SE 3 doors :

1) ITS CHARACTER: The fascia, so identifiable, is the key element. You can’t change a look, a face, a smile that’s that iconic!

2) VERY PREMIUM: Quite often, small cars are associated with just cheap and cheerfull but this is really a premium vehicule: the touches, the quality of materials, the finish.

3) THE DRIVE: It’s all about the drive! It’s the go kart feeling, a low center of gravity, it’s so much fun!

4) NO COMPROMISES: With the electric car I believe its claim to fame is that there’s no compromises. Our engineers have positioned all the batteries in the base of the car so it doesn’t touch cargo space, headroom or seating capacity. It’s identical to the petrol versions across the showroom.

5) EMOTIONAL: A MINI is so emotional, it’s like an extension of your personality. I would guess 70% of our customers name their car, like a member of the family. You just have such an emotional tie to it and I think that’s a really unique thing with a car. A car can be just a commodity, everybody has to have one but a MINI, just got a lot of heart!

How are you going to market this car?

Women have been typically drawn to MINIs. I get all the time people telling me that the car is cute! We often do a lot of advertising toward performance aspects of the car, more masculine look and feel. It seems that the friendly kind of character of the car itself attracts women automatically. (…) I’m sort of feeling that, because we are the friendly brand, maybe we can do it in a way that is not geeky and then, it’s the technology and the workings of the car but you don’t have to be a genius to operate the car. The inside looks all of the same as the petrol car, you operate it entirely the same way.

How this new MINI will seduce women?

All the design and customization. Sometimes we’re told we have to many options! You can customize it too much because you can really go roof and mirror colors and body color and wheels and trims and it goes on and on! We talked earlier about the extension of the personality. I think this is a female thing to want to express their lifestyle, their personality in their car, what they wear, what they drive. This is a highly customizable car with new colors, new wheels, it’s quite flashy still. I think that would be the sexy hook to it!

How will you convince people to get electric MINIs instead of SUV to get in the city?

The markets trends and segments are going toward SUVs and what we’ve been finding is small cars are somewhat less in demand but MINI seems to have continue to outperform the segment. Essentially people want a MINI because they want a MINI. They know they want a MINI, they’re not just shopping for a car. I actually think that we’re gonna have people who come for a MINI because they want a small urban car for that lifestyle and now they have the electric MINI as an option, which they never had before. I think it will be a very natural fit. And then you’ll have people that come in that don’t necessary know that they want a MINI. This is an electric option for them and once you get in it, it’s bigger than you think, it’s more premium than you think, it will be a natural transition, people coming from both angles.

Follow The Car Fashionista with the new electric MINI Cooper SE. Video: @jimmyhamelin. Original music: @jsbloooo. Duration: 0:40 sec.