NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 54

The third generation MINI Countryman serves up an even trendier confection for youthfully-minded customers in the lower-mid-sized SUV segment. There's a divisive look, a completely redesigned and more practical cabin and full-electric drivetrains for those wanting them. It's all about as far from the original wood-panelled middle-class '60s Countryman estate as you could imagine.

Background word count: 168

Here's a different kind of MINI Countryman. The third generation version of the brand's lower-mid-sized SUV has grown in size. First to leave space beneath it in the range for the company's new Aceman small SUV. And second so it can share all its underpinnings and powertrains with BMW's X1 and iX1 models. This MK3 Countryman is built in a BMW factory too, the Leipzig plant that makes the 1 Series; it's the first time that BMW's and MINIs have run along the same production line. Petrol power continues, but as our previous 'BMW iX1' reference suggests, the big news this time round is that instead of the electrified Countryman offering being a Plug-in Hybrid, it's a full-EV. As with the second generation MINI Cooper Electric, there are two battery variants, though here, they use a completely different battery and platform. What this Countryman does now share with that smaller MINI model is its completely redesigned cabin with its new screen and media technology. It's a rejuvenated proposition.