photo: www.auto-types.com
Is it only us or does the new Mini Cooper SUV seem like a really odd choice?
Back in 2002 when the newly restyled Mini was introduced in the US, they did a terrific job of celebrating their smallness in a world dominated by hulking SUVs and trucks.
“Let’s Motor” proclaimed the new Mini – and for the first time in a while the auto industry gave us something to smile at. The cheeky little Brit icon captured our imaginations along with the hearts and minds of a legion of new fans.
Fast forward to 2010 and big is no longer beautiful when it comes to cars (or pretty much anything for that matter). And Mini announces its supersizing itself.
It makes us wonder: did they run out of “small” ideas, did focus groups ‘confirm’ that the Mini SUV was a winner, did the big bosses from BMW force them to do it or have the brand people at Mini simply lost their mojo?
Great brands celebrate, often flaunt, what makes them different. They are unafraid to march to their own drummer, they like challenging the status quo.
What a shame. For a while there, the geniuses at Mini showed us what it looks like to have the guts to zig while others zag.
Alpa Pandya
EVP, Director of Strategy
Tweet this | Tags: Mini Cooper, SUV
