BMW Motorrad had a record-breaking 2023 when sales of motorcycles and scooters jumped to 209,257 units during the brand’s centenary year. Demand was up by 3.1% for the BMW Group’s two-wheeled division. What if the company’s success were to rub off onto another member of the automotive conglomerate?

As it turns out, MINI isn’t against the idea of swapping four wheels for just two for a future product. It would be based on an existing product offered by the increasingly successful Motorrad branch. Company chief Stefanie Wurst chatted with Auto Express about the prospects of a motorbike. Speaking at the world premiere of the Aceman in Beijing, the firm’s highest-ranked executive said:

“I think this is interesting because it’s urban mobility – BMW is producing so much when it comes to mobility. If we were to do something I would look into the family first and I think this is something I find interesting. If I have interest in our markets, this is something I would consider.”

 

Although an electric motorcycle or a scooter hasn’t been given the green light yet, MINI’s design boss is already thinking about it. Oliver Heilmer told the British magazine he has tasked his team to draw a bike. Logic tells us it would be mechanically related to the CE 02 but with different styling to better fit MINI’s brand identity.

““I actually gave the team the task, ‘Let’s do some bikes just in order to understand whether it works’. We tried little motorbikes as far as we can. It’s not our expertise and they’re doing something where they say, ‘does this work?’ And they say, ‘I don’t know. It looks good.’ So you can create something that looks like a MINI.”

A follow-up to the 2021 Concept CE 02, the production version was launched in mid-2023. It’s not an e-bike, nor is it an electric scooter. Instead, BMW Motorrad calls it an eParkourer with 15 horsepower on tap. It has an air-cooled electric motor good for 40.6 lb-ft of torque, enabling a 0-30 mph sprint in three seconds. Flat out, it’ll do 59 mph. The dual 1.96-kWh batteries last for 56 miles of range.

Logic tells us that an equivalent MINI version of the CE 02 would likely be a tad cheaper. In Germany, BMW Motorrad is asking €9,405 before options.

Source: Auto Express, Stefanie Wurst / LinkedIn