Mini will shortly add the Paceman to its arsenal with new reports suggesting production to begin in 2012 ahead of its launch in 2013. The Paceman will be the seventh member of the Mini family and is dubbed as a ‘sports activity coupe’. Prices or any other detail for that matter is now unavailable.

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The upcoming World Rally Championship will see MINI testing its mettle against players such as Citroen, Subaru and Ford. The decision assumes significance for the fact that this will be MINI’s re-entry into the racing challenge which would get underway next year. The car maker will be entering the MINI Countryman WRC, being developed by Prodrive. The tests will be for events that would run through 2011, and is expected to continue during the entire 2012 season.

The car maker is expected to bring on to the race track its four-wheel-drive rally car that will have incorporated in it a BMW Motorsport four-cylinder 1.6-liter turbocharged engine. It is expected that the car would be a regular entrant in more racing series too. Reports suggest that BMW is likely to make the car available to customer teams.

This has to be one of the most inexpensive packages for a premium brand endorsed commuter we so dearly call the MINI Countryman. The Getaway package costs a modest €89 and it includes two folding seats and a wooden board which can turn one of the seats into a table. An additional €35 will fetch all you Countryman owners another board just in case you do not like eating alone even in your commuter. Other than the extra table there are other additional accessories like the boots for €39, a parka for €139, a t-shirt for €29 and a five-in-one cover for €65. I do not quite understand the idea behind a package such as this but I am still sure the MINI Countryman fanatics will find it interesting.