Mini’s new 5-door set to make maximum impact

Mini has revealed the first five-door hatchback in the badge's history, which will go on sale this summer priced from €23,270.

The five-door is 161mm longer than its three-door sibling, and Mini claims that 72mm of the extra length has gone into providing rear passengers with adequate legroom. The rest has gone into increasing boot space, which jumps by 67 litres, to 278. Neither increase is gargantuan, but fold down the back seats and almost 1,000 litres of load space is available.

The Cooper D is likely to be the biggest seller in the range, with claimed fuel consumption of just 3.6 litres per 100km (better than 70mpg) and carbon-dioxide emissions of 95g/km. That model has prices from €24,710.

There is also a range-topping 2.0-litre Cooper SD diesel, priced from €29,390, and a sporty 190hp Cooper S petrol version, priced from €28,940.

The basic Cooper model won’t be the cheapest five-door Mini for long: an even more affordable 1.2-litre Mini One will arrive before the end of this year.

The price difference between a five-door and a three-door is about €740, model for model.

The Mini five-door replicates the interior and equipment of the recently launched three-door, with a large infotainment screen in the centre of the dash where once the dinner-plate-sized speedometer sat, and a ring of LED lights that can be used to display RPM or give warnings from the optional parking sensors.

The five-door also presages a serious move into practical family motoring for Mini. To sit alongside its existing Countryman compact crossover, the brand will this year launch a new Clubman estate, significantly larger than its predecessor, as well as being more so than this five-door hatchback.

One question: why didn't Mini resurrect the Maxi name for this model?