It is not exceptional, but certainly not usual for a concept car to be continued in production after more than ten years. That seems to be happening with the Mini Rocketman in a way, even though we reported exactly ten years ago today that there seemed little hope.
Mini presented the Rocketman Concept in early 2011 in Geneva. A mischievous study model with dimensions that came a lot closer to the original Mini than was the case with the modern Mini Cooper. The Rocketman was therefore positively received and could, for example, become an interesting opponent of the Fiat 500. Exactly 10 years ago today, however, there was some disappointing news: Mini didn’t seem to intend to take the car into production.
The statement at the time was clear: “It will be difficult to turn the Rocketman into a profitable project,” a source within BMW told at the time. Automobilwoche. It would be a huge challenge to make the Rocketman cheaper than the regular Mini. At the beginning of 2012, there was again the message that Mini would discontinue production, because the Rocketman “…does not fit within the new platform strategy of the brand. With the new base, a huge investment would have to be made to make the wheelbase suitable Furthermore, there could be problems with the stability, handling and safety of the car.”
Ora R1
Then that year indeed the curtain fell for the Rocketman and now, nine years later, there is indeed still no Mini Rocketman. Yet there is hope. In July 2019, a rumor came out that Mini’s parent company BMW Group in China wants to build cars with Great Wall Motors and that a fully electric ‘entry-level Mini’ is one of them. Yes, in the style of the Rocketman Concept. At the end of 2019, the partnership between BMW and Great Wall became official. BMW indicated that ‘future electric Minis’ should roll off the production line in a jointly opened Chinese factory, with BMW also joining Great Wall for the development. According to the latest reports, a production version of the Rocketman based on the Ora R1 pictured above (which looks like a Smart Forfour…) is on the way, which should hit the market in 2022. So: even after ten years, don’t completely rule out the Rocketman!