This essay is based on the Mini. The design originally made by Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis; a British-Greek car designer born in Turkey.
The Mini Cooper is well known as a Marque. The design was originally made by Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, a British-Greek car designer born in Turkey. He is widely noted for the groundbreaking and influential development of the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959. Issigonis created the Mini in the oil crises year 1956 due to Suez issues. He turned crisis into an opportunity by stepping out to designing a car that had lots of internal space, minimal outside dimensions, seating four passengers, impeccable driving characteristics, high fuel efficiency, and at a very affordable price. The name Mini was used by many models but became a marque with its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout It’s a marque product, now in the stables of BMW from 2000 because it stood out in the days where marque products in the automobile industry was dominated by other established players. The mini’s body contours were iconic and had a huge emphasizes on its unique brand identity.
The MINI design came into the market with its strikingly different design language / persona at a time when the market had a top seller in the form of VW Beetle and Fiat 500.
The design, a first of its kind, allows 80% of the area of the car's floor space to be used for passengers and luggage. Its design philosophy is that of being a fun and cool product with minimalistic yet functional powers. What Issigonis did was he switched the direction of the engine placement in most cars from its linear positioning to a horizontal position, thus making that extra space accounting an overall 80% usable design, a big hit with women. Mini’s target segment is people looking for small cars, especially women. MINI is considered to be an iconic brand, recognized across the globe. It has a very high social impact value and is a head turner. Mini has huge customization options. The MINI is diverse in design, functionality, and personality.
Though with over 50+ years old the design language, its grit to excel, strengthens and makes this a future ready car where a passenger will be able to summon an autonomous MINI to pick them up, go for a ride, entertain, let them take the wheel, and then return autonomously to their home base.
MINI is still in the scheme of things for its current owner, BMW and features prominently in BMW’s NEXT 100 program. The program is aimed at addressing the entire lineup of BMW and chart a way for the future for each of their product lines.
|According to BMW the MINI VISION NEXT 100 is dreaming up a new highly individual adventure for the shared user of the future.They have a philosophy that “every MINI is my MINI”, bringing a custom made feel to the growing trend of car sharing.
Not only will surface parts on the exterior perform the ingenious trick of transforming to personal tastes - even beaming a greeting as you approach it - the reimagined MINI features a personalizing device, affectionately tagged “The Cooperiser”. It is the centrally positioned circular instrument cluster and it is the primary interface between the user and the car, allowing users of the Mini to influence its decision-making when it comes to route choices, in-car entertainment, driving style and any level of personalization. It could mean that the new futuristic MINI could learn about its temporary owner from social media and online behavior and be a friend to its occupant, that’s just an idea as of now but explorations are underway to go deep in finding ways of making the human machine interactions a synchronized, harmonious coexistence.
MINI’s VISION NEXT 100 means that the modern city resident can have all the benefits of sharing a vehicle's space and resources without owning the car or losing the feeling of the car being "individual to you". MINI offers a very unique, personalized space that always reflects driving habits and comforts. MINI is highly trendy, customizable, expressive and desirable from the point of view of how’s its design language appeals to people. For the EV, there is no chrome on the Electric MINI concept and none of the black plastic fender flares or faux air vents. The chrome details, which have really stood for Mini, like the waistline finishers, the headlamp and tail-light surrounds, and even the door handles have been done away with for the concept car. It's a minimalistic design approach in line with why and what reasons the MINI was originally designed for, to optimize costs and include only the bare essentials. The first model even had the heating as an option and the creator placed only the essential automotive bare necessities “throwing “the extras out to reduce the costs, make it economic and fun to use. This is the same underlying ethos on the basis of which the future MINI is designed on...
The MINI concept imagines humans will still want to drive themselves rather than being transported to and from in a fully autonomous vehicle. Mini's view of the future is communal and connected, and one that does not eliminate the driver altogether. Mini imagines cars of the future being able to be summoned by users with no ownership. The future Minis are envisioned to know things about the passenger or driver, and to tailor their entertainment options accordingly. e.g., a future Mini will be able to suggest points of interest based on the driver or passenger’s hobbies or line of work. As per BMW., its current owner labels it as an ICONIC DESIGN WITH PURE GO-KART FEELING.
MINI Cooper is voted as the sexiest car for women to drive. Let’s explore why? Mini’s are small and the initial expression when people see it is “cute” irrespective of gender, age or culture, this is a constant. “Cute” is a expression more female population gets attracted to, it resonates a very feminine emotion and this directly transcends to the attraction most women have towards Mini Coopers. Women across the globe do not make decisions on buying cars based on the technical capabilities or features, power, etc., women don’t consider cars as what men prefer to be in control of machines, know technical details and specifications etc. Female car buyers mostly gravitate towards smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers, the first thing that is on top of the list of consideration is “looks” and then “efficiency”.This behavioral aspect of women plays a key role in making mini their most favorite car.
Most men definitely avoid the word “cute” while buying the car. However, Car parts website Breakeryard.com said men voted the Mini Cooper the sexiest car for a woman to drive in its survey, MINI is also the most gifted cars by men for women in some pockets of the market. So most Men would love to see women drive a mini and it was considered sexy.
Mini is part of the small car designs but its impact is far more distinct than any car on the street. It's unique colors add to its character. Owning a MINI in a social setting still means the owner is a fun person who enjoys a golf game on a Sunday and relaxing in his lawn. This scenario is far from what these users actually do with their MINI, but the brand image is so well marketed that we cannot take the car seriously and neither can we get mad at it.
The MINI is diverse in design, function, and personality, the design language. This is a unique car that has weathered many storms in the car industry and has proved that it is strong enough to be a future ready car where a passenger will be able to summon an autonomous MINI to pick them up, go for a ride, entertain, let them take the wheel, and then return autonomously to their home base.
