MINI — the brand best known for the MINI Cooper — is specialized in a way that a lot of other automakers are not. It pretty much only makes small(er) cars, and each model is really just a variation of the classic MINI Cooper formula.
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In 2025, almost every brand has succumbed to prevailing market and driver trends, and MINI is no exception. In its case, the “drivers want bigger cars” role is fulfilled by the MINI Countryman, a pseudo-crossover SUV that’s still very small compared to the rest of the automotive world.
While I’d taken a few jaunts in a MINI Cooper S, like many Americans my main experience of the brand was seeing Mr. Bean goof around in an old British Mini with a recliner mounted on top. So, when tasked with reviewing a 2025 MINI Countryman ALL4, I was mighty curious: I generally didn’t have any preconceived notions about the brand, other than finding it funny that an obsessively British company is now owned by BMW, perhaps the most German automaker around. As such, the Countryman is built in Leipzig.
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