AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)07/06 Report--

After three years of joint venture, the first models of Great Wall Motor and BMW Group are finally on the market in China.

July 6, the new MINI COOPER Pure Electric officially launched, the new car launched a total of models, the price range of 10,000 yuan. It is understood that the new MINI COOPER is the first production car under Beam Automobile, which is a joint venture between Great Wall Motor and BMW Group at 50:50.

In terms of appearance, the new MINI COOPER adheres to the design style of the MINI brand all the time, and the front inherits MINI's iconic round headlamp design, coupled with an eye-catching new octagonal intake grille. Functionally, LED headlights come with three modes, and you can also turn on interactive welcome and farewell animation. On the side of the body, the new car is still a classic two-door design, and it does not directly cancel the two-door version like the domestic smart. In the rear part, instead of using half a capsule-shaped British flag taillight, the new car uses a matrix LED taillight, which also has three adjustment modes, which are connected by a penetrating trim in the middle, which looks sharper. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 3858/1756/1458mm and wheelbase 2526mm respectively.

In terms of interior decoration, the new MINI COOPER uses minimalist elements, and the interior retains only three basic elements-the steering wheel, the central control screen and the lever switch. The new car cancels the dashboard, and the HUD head-up display system will replace the dashboard. The central control screen still continues the iconic design of MINI, but it is no longer a rectangle cut out of the round shape, but a real circular screen. In addition, the button area under the central control screen also uses circular design elements, which still has a certain inheritance with the current model. The steering wheel also uses a new style, while abandoning the classic circular air conditioning outlet, but using the current popular through air outlet.

In the power part, the entry-level MINI COOPER E is equipped with 135kW (184hp) motors, matched with 40.7kWh 's battery pack. The high-end version of the MINI COOPER SE is equipped with a 160kW (218 horsepower) motor and uses a 54.2kWh battery pack with a maximum range of 402km in WLTP and an acceleration of 6.7s from 0 to 100km/h.

It can be said that the new MINI COOPER Pure Electric is a belated classic, from the establishment of the joint venture to mass production listing has been three years. The new MINI COOPER Pure Electric is produced by Beam Automobile Co., Ltd., which was established in December 2019 by a joint venture between Great Wall Motor and BMW Group at 50:50, with BMW (Holland) Holdings as the actual controller.

As the first model jointly launched by Great Wall and BMW Group, the new MINI COOPER Pure Electric still has strong market competitiveness, but in today's increasingly hot electric vehicle market, this model seems to have missed the first opportunity, and there have long been many competitive models in the market, such as smart Spirit # 1, Polar Krypton X, Volvo EX30 and other small-size pure electric SUV are very powerful. They have good performance in space, battery life, configuration and other aspects, and it is not easy for the new MINI COOPER pure electricity to gain market share.

In addition to MINI COOPER Pure Electric, MINI Aceman will also be available this year as soon as possible. It is the second production car under Beams. Positioning small pure electric SUV,MINI Aceman will fill the gap between MINI five-door version and MINI COUNTRYMAN in the future.

According to the original plan, beam car is not only responsible for production, but also includes the joint research and development of pure electric vehicles by both sides in China. It is expected that the future MINI pure electric vehicles as well as new products under Great Wall Automobile will be put into production here, but the latest news shows that beam car only undertakes the production of two future electric models of MINI, that is, COOPER and ACEMAN models, while there is no progress in the new products jointly developed by the two brands.

Sales of MINI in China have declined in recent years, from 34100 in 2019 to 28700 in 2022 and then to 18200 in 2023, lagging far behind the market of traditional fuel luxury brands. Due to the low sales in China, the models produced by Beamlight may be mainly aimed at overseas markets or become the second largest production base of MINI in the world.

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