Mini readies bigger Countryman

PARIS -- Mini's redesigned Countryman crossover due early next year will grow in size to better compete in the U.S., said Sebastian Mackensen, the brand's global chief.

The Countryman will be revealed in November at the Los Angeles auto show, said a source close to the company.

Mackensen told Automotive News Europe at the Paris auto show that the new vehicle will grow in the same way the Clubman compact expanded from the previous generation. That would give the Countryman an "additional attraction that would underline its SUV-ness versus the current Countryman," he said.

"The passenger car segment over the last two years is not growing like the truck segment but actually shrinking, and that is where we compete," he said. The Countryman accounted for just more than a quarter of Mini sales so far this year. U.S. Countryman sales began in late 2010. 

The new Countryman will also be the first Mini available as a plug-in hybrid, the same source said. Ian Robertson, board member for sales and marketing at Mini's parent, BMW, said at the Paris show that Mini would add a plug-in hybrid, without being specific.