Tag Archives: Mini

News

MINI and Paul Smith Reunite for a Buyable Collector’s Dream

After a 23-year hiatus, MINI and British fashion designer Paul Smith are finally offering something fans can actually take home. The MINI Paul Smith Edition, making its global debut at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, marks the first time a collaboration between the Oxford-based automaker and the iconic designer is truly for sale—rather than a one-off showpiece.

The partnership traces back to the 1998 MINI Paul Smith Edition, followed by limited-run concept vehicles STRIP (2021) and RECHARGED (2022), neither of which were commercially available. Now, MINI has opened the doors for enthusiasts with a lineup spanning three- and five-door hatchbacks as well as the convertible. Powertrain options are similarly broad, offering both traditional combustion engines and electric Cooper SE variants. The John Cooper Works performance model, however, remains absent.

Design cues nod to MINI’s rich heritage while celebrating Paul Smith’s signature flair. Statement Grey echoes the 1959 Mini Austin Seven, while Inspired White recalls the Classic Mini Beige. Both tones join the current MINI palette’s Midnight Black, providing a trio of exclusive options. Contrasting roofs and accents are finished in Nottingham Green, honoring the designer’s hometown, and are mirrored on the side mirror caps, wheel centers, and grille outline. For those craving drama, a darker roof option features multi-toned stripes in matte and glossy Jet Black.

Details abound for those willing to look closer. Paul Smith’s iconic stripe motif appears subtly on the driver’s side roof, while MINI logos are rendered in Black Blue, and Smith’s signature adorns the rear horizontal trim strip.

Inside, restraint meets refinement. The dashboard is swathed in Paul Smith-branded striped fabric, and the lower spoke of the steering wheel features the same motif. Seat shoulders and headrests receive knitted textile accents, while the infotainment system offers three custom Paul Smith backgrounds. Personalized touches extend to “Hello” light projections when the doors open, door sills etched with Smith’s mantra—“Every day is a new beginning”—and even hand-drawn rabbit motifs on the floor mats.

The MINI Paul Smith Edition is a rare example of a designer collaboration that balances fashion-forward flair with everyday usability. Tokyo showgoers can see it in person through November 9, but MINI enthusiasts around the world will soon have the chance to bring a piece of designer history home.

Source: BMW

News

Biogena Doubles Down on Electrons: Austria’s Largest MINI EV Fleet Rolls Out

Biogena is serious about shrinking its carbon footprint—and its fleet’s tailpipes. Back in 2021, the Austrian health-products company made headlines by snapping up 82 MINI Cooper SEs, turning its corporate parking lot into something of a rolling showroom for electrified British charm. Fast forward to 2025, and Biogena’s going even bigger—or rather, greener.

The company has just inked a deal for 126 all-electric MINIs, forming Austria’s largest zero-emission MINI fleet and the second-largest in all of Europe. Only Deloitte’s 240-strong fleet across the continent tops it. The first 59 cars from MINI’s brand-new “J01” generation have already arrived at Biogena’s Salzburg HQ, where a handover ceremony looked more like a lifestyle photoshoot than a corporate event.

By the time the remaining cars roll in—expected by early 2026—Biogena’s office lot will resemble a MINI dealership that runs purely on electrons and good intentions.

Business Meets Battery Power

This isn’t just an image play. Biogena’s fleet order went through MINI’s new direct sales system, known internally as the agency model—a retail approach that cuts out the traditional dealer negotiation dance. Under the setup, MINI sells cars directly to customers at a fixed national price, while retailers pocket a commission for facilitating the handover. It’s cleaner, simpler, and less exhausting for everyone involved.

MINI says over half of its Austrian registrations now come from fleet and company-car sales—proof that electrification isn’t just for private buyers anymore. And this particular deal marks the largest fleet delivery MINI has handled since the agency model officially launched in October 2024.

Charging Forward—Literally

Biogena’s EV commitment extends beyond the cars themselves. Roughly half of the energy used to charge its new MINI fleet comes from locally generated renewable power, helping the company cut an estimated 84,000 kilograms of CO₂ emissions each year. That’s equivalent to taking nearly 20 gasoline cars off the road for good—or at least turning down their engines for a very long nap.

MINI Momentum

The timing couldn’t be better for MINI. The BMW-owned brand is enjoying a renaissance in Austria: sales climbed more than 24% in the first half of 2025, with EV deliveries skyrocketing by over 160%. MINI’s electric reinvention appears to be working, and the new J01 generation—complete with sharper looks and improved range—is driving that surge.

For now, MINI is the only BMW Group brand running on the agency model, but the mothership in Munich plans to extend it to BMW proper by 2027. If Biogena’s example is anything to go by, that transition could spark even more corporate electrification across Europe.

Because in the business world, nothing says “future-focused” quite like a fleet full of silent, zero-emission hatchbacks—and a company parking lot that hums instead of roars.

Source: Mini Austria

CONCEPT CARS

MINI x Deus Ex Machina Concepts: Where Motorsport Meets Surf Culture

MINI has never been shy about mixing heritage with experimentation, and its latest collaboration with Deus Ex Machina—a brand equally at home on the racetrack as it is on the beach—proves the point. The two companies have cooked up a pair of show cars, unveiled at the IAA Munich Motor Show, that blur the line between fashion statement and performance machine. Meet The Skeg and The Machina.

Both concepts spring from the John Cooper Works lineup, MINI’s halo of hot hatches. One packs a battery and an experimental surf aesthetic, the other a turbo four-cylinder and a more traditional motorsport vibe. Neither is production-bound, but both showcase MINI’s willingness to play at the intersection of lifestyle and speed.

The Skeg: Surfboards Meet Semi-Transparent Fiberglass

Basing a concept on the all-electric MINI JCW might not seem like the obvious way to celebrate surf culture, but that’s exactly what The Skeg does. MINI’s designers leaned into the beach life with semi-transparent fiberglass panels stretched over its widened wheelarches, roof, and spoiler. The material is intentionally rough to the touch and helps shave 15 percent off the car’s curb weight compared with the standard electric JCW.

Inside, the surf theme continues with a stripped-down cabin. Neoprene-trimmed bucket seats and a simple fiberglass dash play up the motorsport connection, while the rear seats give way to wetsuit trays—because where else would you stash your boardshorts after a session in the waves? It’s part race car, part surf shack, all very un-MINI in the best possible way.

The Machina: A NASCAR-Tinged JCW

If The Skeg is playful, The Machina is pure attitude. Built off the petrol-powered JCW, it keeps MINI’s familiar 2.0-liter turbo-four—good for 231 hp—paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The design, however, borrows heavily from American stock car culture.

The wheelarches are wider still, housing oversized wheels and rubber meant to echo NASCAR pit lanes. The headlights? Gone. In their place sit circular intakes accented by slim LED strips. An open mesh grille, a jutting splitter, and four auxiliary rally lamps nod both to modern racing aggression and MINI’s Monte Carlo-winning past. Out back, a towering wing and beefy diffuser leave no doubt about this car’s intent.

The cabin dials the motorsport feel up another notch. Winged bucket seats, a deep-dish steering wheel, and a classic fly-off handbrake sit where the infotainment clutter would normally reside. It feels less like a concept car and more like a garage-built race special—raw, purposeful, and ready for a restart of MINI’s GP lineage.

Why It Matters

Neither concept is destined for your local MINI dealer, but both hint at where MINI might experiment as it reshapes its lineup. The Skeg demonstrates how lightweight materials and electric performance could dovetail with lifestyle branding, while The Machina feels like a thinly veiled preview of a next-generation MINI GP.

At the very least, these cars prove MINI hasn’t lost its sense of fun. Whether you’re into wetsuits or pit stops, the MINI x Deus Ex Machina pair shows the brand still knows how to mix culture, performance, and a little bit of madness in a package no one else would dare.

Source: Auto Express