Mini Sports Activity Vehicle to be Built by Magna Steyr

BMW Group just announced that it has found a partner for an all-new project to round out its Mini brand lineup. The rumors are indeed correct – Mini will be building a compact Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV), and it will be assembled by Magna Steyr of Austria.

One of the biggest reasons why the production of the new SAV was outsourced was due to the issues of space at the original Mini factory in England. The Oxford plant is running at full capacity producing the regular Cooper, the Convertible and the new Clubman. There just wouldn’t be enough room to accommodate another high-volume model. In the case of the SAV, it could result in as many as 80,000 units annually.

Currently, BMW has a major contract with Magna Steyr, which produces the BMW X3 in its Graz, Austria factories. However, with the current generation preparing to wind down after a successful run (estimated to take place in 2010 or 2011) and with production moving internally to BMW’s Spartanburg South Carolina facility, there’s plenty of space to build the upcoming mini-Mini SAV.

Seigfried Wolf, co-CEO of Magna International says that this is a “huge recognition of the work that Magna Steyr has achieved so far through its partnership with BMW Group. Above all, I’m delighted for our employees, as this will allow us to set another milestone in our long-running and successful cooperation with BMW Group. As we have done before, we will work on this vehicle program with our fullest commitment to ensure that we meet BMW Group’s high expectations.”

For those curious about the actual vehicle, it’s been dubbed by the automotive world as “Monte”, named after, we think, Monte Carlo, the rally circuit at which the original Mini Cooper raced and won. An alternative name for markets outside of North America could be “Colorado”.

Whatever the name, Mini’s first Sport Activity Vehicle will be different from all other Minis in one big way, it’ll be all wheel drive. Those who have spotted testing mules have spied the presence of rear driveshafts poking out from under the lifted body. Spy snappers have also noted that the car seems to be slightly longer than the Clubman, with an estimated length of 13 feet. Reportedly, to accommodate the new components, the rear suspension had to be completely redesigned. Make no mistake though, this won’t be an off-roading vehicle.

This new Mini will undoubtedly be the talk of the town when it’s launched. The combination of the Mini brand’s cheeky character, the near infinite permutations of configurations have carved the brand a niche in the hatchback and convertible market place, but the combination of the future vehicle’s compact size and added ride height will be sure to have customers flocking to the brand’s showrooms.