Mini gets the most bang for its buck by offering variants of its cars, such as its John Cooper Works model. Instead of going for speed with its newest special edition, Mini went upscale with the Countryman Park Lane.
The compact luxury segment is booming and the Countryman Park Lane ensures it isn’t missing out on the trend. In fact, making it sure it was able to jump on the luxury compact wave is one reason why David Duncan, vice president Mini of the Americas, told TheDetroitBureau.com at the Detroit Auto Show he expected 2015 to be a banner sales year.
“I would expect 2015 would be our best year ever in the U.S.,” he said. The company’s sales were down 16% in 2014, but that was due, in some measure, to limited availability to some models, Duncan added.
Adding a luxury model to the Countryman line-up makes sense as it had its best sales year on record. The Park Lane is a new look for the Mini portfolio. While it’s a new look, it’s not entirely new to the brand.
The name Park Lane is taken from the one of London’s most prestigious address located in the borough of Mayfair. In fact, Mini has a prestigious showroom there. It is the third time that Park Lane has lent its name to an exclusive edition model of the brand. A version of the classic Mini with particularly high-end fittings bore the designation in 1987, while another Mini Park Lane came out in 2005, following in the footsteps of its predecessor after the brand’s relaunch.
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Now the tradition of naming design and edition models made by the British premium automobile manufacturer after London streets and districts is applied to the Mini Countryman for the first time.
In keeping with upscale address, the car boasts an Earl Grey metallic exterior combined with the entirely new color variant Oak Red for the roof and exterior mirror caps as well sport stripes in the same color as an optional extra.
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However, it does maintain that element of sportiness even with the subdued color scheme through its with 18-inch light alloy wheels in Turbo Fan Dark Grey design. Emblems on the side scuttles and cockpit surface bear the inscription “Park Lane” as do the entry sills.
On the inside, Cross Stripe Grey dominates the palate and was designed exclusively for the Park Lane. It matches the Carbon Black for the door trim and center console to create a sports-style premium ambience in the interior.
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Not only does it keep that athletic look, it also is athletic, especially when equipped with ALL4, Mini’s optional all-wheel drive system. For those who want to take it up a notch, there is the Countryman Park Lane Chili, the all-rounder’s additional features include LED fog lamps, sports seats in fabric/leather, automatic air conditioning, the Sport Button, a rain sensor with automatic driving light control, sports leather steering wheel with multifunction buttons and a storage and lighting package.
