Mini to use Goodwood like JCW

The Goodwood name look set to become Mini’s flagship brand for high-end, customer-specified luxury versions, company sources have revealed.

The long-awaited super-luxury ‘Mini Inspired by Goodwood’ was unveiled at the recent Shanghai show, a venue that reflects the likely importance of the Chinese market as a sales destination for the car.

The Goodwood badge is set to be used on other luxurious Minis in the same way that the John Cooper Works badge represents its high-performance models.

Limited to a run of 1000, the Goodwood will go on sale from spring 2012 and will, say BMW sources, cost 47,000 euro in mainland Europe, which is expected to translate to around £42,000.

The Goodwood comes in a single specification in either the Rolls shade of Diamond Black metallic or Mini’s Reef Blue metallic. Oddly, the cars will not be individually numbered but instead have a console plaque with the legend ‘One of 1000’.

Read more on the Rolls-Royce Mini

Mini says the Goodwood has been designed “in close collaboration” with the Rolls design team at the Goodwood factory and reflects “typical British understatement”. Overseen by Rolls-Royce designer Alan Sheppard, the Goodwood interior uses the same materials and suppliers as the interiors of Rolls’ own cars.

The entire dashboard, centre console and seats are finished in Rolls Cornsilk leather and the dash’s wood veneers come from Rolls. The Rolls-Royce typeface is also used on the instruments.

Under the skin, the Goodwood gets the 1.6-litre, twin-scroll turbocharged, 181bhp Cooper S engine and either a six-speed manual or a six-speed auto ’box. Adaptive xenon lights and a Harman Kardon hi-fi are standard.

MG Motor

An all-new sports car, a crossover, a replacement for the MG ZT/Rover 75 and a hybrid are among many models that Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) is developing for the reborn MG marque.

There are also new engine ranges on the way, including downsized, turbocharged petrol engines co-developed with GM, as well as new 2.0 and 2.4-litre four-cylinder units. SAIC is also debating whether to offer an MG version of the electric city car revealed at the Beijing motor show last spring.

See Autocar's renderings of the MG sports car and crossover

That decision depends in part on government incentives and the roll-out of infrastructure. But a hybrid version of the MG 6 is definitely on; it will appear towards the end of 2013 following a facelift.

The two-seat sports car, which is very likely to be rear-wheel drive, is not scheduled to appear until 2016.

Read Autocar's first drive of the MG 3

SAIC’s product planning boss, Liu Tao, admits that the firm has not yet devised a way of being able to offer the model because it has no suitable platforms. But SAIC recognises that a sports car is very important to the MG marque and says it will work hard to provide the model.

The MG SUV, which is unrelated to the Roewe W5 launched at the show, is a monocoque crossover aimed at the Nissan Qashqai. Codenamed AS21, it is due in 2014 and will come with a 2.0 petrol turbo and a dual-clutch transmission. No diesel version is currently planned, despite European market tastes.

Read Autocar's scoop on the new MG sports car

A year later the MG 7/Roewe 750 replacement will appear, some 15 years after the debut of the Rover 75 on which both cars are based. A coupé-like four-door, this model will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and a 1.9-litre diesel, both with dual-clutch transmissions.

Most of these new models will be designed and engineered in Longbridge in the UK, and Anting in China, and some could be assembled in Birmingham as well.