New MINI Countryman Coming in 2017 With Tougher Look

Luke Vandezande
by Luke Vandezande

MINI is working on a new version of the Countryman that is expected to arrive in 2017 with more rugged styling than the current model pictured above.

According to a report by AutoExpress, the brand is planning to give the next generation beefier styling and a bigger body to better differentiate it from its new five-door hatchback. The recently-refreshed Countryman still uses the range of four-cylinder engines that the now-gone generation Cooper sourced power from, but the new generation Countryman will also make use of a turbocharged three-cylinder engine. The revised by styling is expected to include larger wheel arches and bigger body cladding while maintaining signature elements of the brand’s styling including circular head lamps.

MINI will base the new model on the same ULK1 platform as it is using for the new Cooper Hardtop models as well as the upcoming range of front-wheel drive BMW models. In total, there are supposed to be eight new model lines coming from MINI based on the architecture.

GALLERY: 2015 MINI Countryman

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Luke Vandezande
Luke Vandezande

Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.

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