After investing so much time and energy in designing and developing the new MINI, BMW wasn’t going to let it all go to waste when the time came to develop a replacement. Rumour has it that BMW originally intended the first-generation models to have a seven-year lifespan, but with the first new MINI selling so well, Plant Oxford needed updating to meet demand for building up to 240,000 cars per year.
BMW figured that after such a major investment in equipment at the factory, it might as well update the car the factory was building at the same time.
Incoming new pedestrian safety regulations dictated that the second-generation MINI needed a front-end redesign, which would result in the next model being physically larger (6cm
