BMW unveils the Mini Countryman compact crossover

This morning, BMW unveiled the first official photos and details surrounding the Mini Countryman, a compact crossover that goes on sale in Europe and other markets this fall and arrives in U.S. showrooms in 2011, probably as a 2012 model.

Previewed last week in Detroit in lightly-disguised form (no doors, no roof) as the Mini Beachcomber concept, photos of the production car leaked onto the web yesterday. Mini's parent, BMW, has apparently elected to mitigate the damage by pulling the trigger and releasing full details on the Countryman, which will be formally introduced next month at the Geneva Motor Show.

A sketchy economy and tumultuous auto market mean there are certainly no guarantees, but there's reason to believe this could be a hit for Mini. How come? Well, it's likely to be the most practical, broadly-appealing vehicle in the lineup by a significant margin.

The Mini Cooper  is, without question, one of the best-reviewed economy cars, period. Critics love its blend of style, fun-to-drive nature, and efficiency. The tradeoff is that the Cooper is super-cramped inside (the back seat is simply hostile to adults) and has a generally laughable amount of cargo space. To help address these concerns, Mini followed up with the longer Cooper Clubman, which has more cargo space and a slightly roomier, more easily-accessible rear seat. Still, it's rife with quirks of its own (such as the twin rear barn doors that obstruct the driver's view aft) that make it far from ideal for many drivers. 

Enter the Countryman. Based on our initial look at the photos and product details, here's our initial take on the pros and cons. 

Pros

• It's a "real" car.  Unlike the the aforementioned Cooper Clubman, which adds a little half-door on the passenger side to ease backseat access, the Mini Countryman has four traditional doors and a liftback hatch. This means access to the rear seats is easy, the cargo space behind them is usable, and the view behind should be clear. The Countryman's overall length (161.3 in.) and wheelbase (102.2 in.) exceed those of the Clubman, making it the biggest Mini.

• Available all-wheel drive. All-wheel drive has become such a strong selling point (See: Subaru), that this feature alone is likely to get people to add the Countryman to their test-drive list, even if owning a Mini never crossed their minds before. Available as an option on the turbocharged Mini Cooper S Countryman, the AWD system (named 'ALL4") can send up to 50 percent of the car's power to the rear wheels under normal driving circumstances. In what Mini dubs "extreme conditions," all power can be diverted to the rear wheels. The base-engined Mini Cooper Countryman is front-wheel-drive only.

• Four-cylinder engines. The Countryman will arrive sporting the latest versions of Mini's 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engines, featuring gasoline direct injection. The base 1.6 will offer "at least" 120 horsepower, while the 1.6 turbo will deliver "at least" 180 horses, according to Mini USA. Fuel economy numbers have not been announced, but the current versions of these engines are quite efficient and boast impressive EPA fuel economy ratings. 

• It'll be fun. Fun-to-drive is basically part of the Mini brand's mission. There's no reason to think it'll be sacrificed in the Countryman. In fact, it's the one thing Mini's probably counting on to silence any critics who view the addition of the crossover as a sign they've lost the plot.  

• It still looks like a Mini. While adding butch elements like larger, rehaped headlamps and flared wheel arches, the Countryman can't be mistaken for anything but a Mini, and the brand's retro styling is generally seen as a plus by reviewers. 

• Neat new feature. The Countryman is fitted with a center rail that runs the length of the passenger area. It's set up to accept a variety of accessories such as cupholders and eyeglass cases, which can be easily slid fore and aft, allowing a degree of personalization to how you arrange the gear on the rail. Should be interesting. 

Cons

• In the U.S., it's a four-seater only.  While European models will be offered with an optional rear bench seat, U.S-market Mini Countryman models will be four-seaters exclusively. Some may see this as a missed opportunity, but be honest:  Would you really want to be that fifth passenger? Seriously?

• Weight penalty? As we mentioned earlier, Mini's press release does not give any anticipated fuel economy numbers. And it's worth noting that many of the features European Minis, including the forthcoming Countryman, get to help keep fuel consumption in check -- such as a Stop/Start system (the engine automatically shuts down at stoplights) -- are not available in the U.S. market. We bring it up because the Countryman is likely to be the heaviest Mini of all, especially when outfitted with the AWD system. Heavier = worse gas mileage. In this case, "worse" is still likely to mean over 30 mpg on the highway, but we'd be shocked if the base, front-wheel drive Countryman can match the 36 mpg highway rating of the base-engined Cooper Clubman. This aspect will be interesting to follow, as efficiency is another big selling point for Mini.

• It won't be cheap, relative to more practical crossovers. It's important to remember that Mini is a premium brand, and its cars are priced accordingly. If you've ever played around with the company's web-based car configurator, you know that once you start piling on the options and accessories, you can take a base-engined car and drive it over the $30,000 mark. We're going to assume the Countryman will have the highest starting price in the Mini range (the numbers won't be announced until closer to launch), and all the fun add-on goodies will be ready to pad the bottom line, as with all Minis. From a sheer value and practicality standpoint, other compact crossovers may make more sense to many consumers.