Off-road vehicles are all the rage across the industry. Every company seems to offer models, or variants of models, that offer more off-road capability.
Mini doesn't have such a vehicle, but that could change. Indeed, Mini's vice-president for the Americas, Michael Peyton, recently told CarBuzz that an off-road version of the Countryman SUV could soon see the light of day.
Mini would be following in a bunch of footsteps, including those made by Honda, which offers TrailSport variants of its most popular SUVs, and Subaru with its Wilderness models.
So what can we expect, should Mini follow through? There aren’t a ton of possibilities in the brand’s lineup, but one that stands out is its biggest model. But the Countryman isn’t actually all that big, and even if the suspension were raised a few inches, it wouldn't have the ground clearance to go anywhere too rough.
One hypothesis being put forward is that the brand could produce a variant paying tribute to its rallying past, a bit like Ford has just done with the Rally version of its Mustang Mach-E. We saw just last year an Uncharted Edition of the Countryman ALL4, recall.
Of course, that type of model is mainly a showpiece – how many motorists would actually take such a vehicle off the beaten track? Not that many.
The important thing for the manufacturer is to offer the possibility. And when it comes to styling, this usually results in some fine exercises.
It's all speculation at the moment, but no doubt the executive's comment has opened the door to discussion. A model with enhanced suspension, off-road tires, skid plates and a rally driving mode could be fun, especially since the Countryman's 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine still offers 241 hp.
