Re: Are you saying the mini revamp was a success?
To be fair, a lot of the size inflation of these cars is down to safety devices. Crumple zones take up space. And the fact that we're all taller and wider than previous generations. So there was no way something the size of the old Mini of Fiat 500 was ever going to pass muster on safety - and then half the customers wouldn't fit...
However the VW and the Mini seem to have got the proportions completely wrong. They look huge and unweildy and have lost the original shape. Whereas, at least to me, the new Fiat 500 looks like it's in the right proportions - but just bigger than the original. The less said about the abominations like the Countryman the better. At least VW never made a Beetle estate! And what they've done to the ones they've slapped a Cooper badge on is even worse. Basically you get a badge, possibly a noisy exhaust, some stripey things on the bonnet and the hardest springs they could find, so your arse feels every crisp packet you run over, let alone the potholes.
Too often revamps or "reboots" are commissioned to chase a new demographic
This is the oddest bit though. BMW specifically did seek a new demographic! The original Mini was cheap! That was one of the points of it. The new Minis (like the new VWs) were both ugly and hideously expensive. Whereas the new Fiat 500s seem to be a similar price to other similar types of car, just with a nice nod to the heritage.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
