Rumors: Industry Report—End Of The Road For Mini And Prodrive

Both Mini and Prodrive are no strangers to victory on the rally stages of the world. However, a recent report from Autoweek indicates that the two companies won’t be running races together any longer.

As with so many things in racing, the separation came down to funding. Part of it comes from BMW—Mini’s parent company—having already allotted funding to a new DTM racing program, and part of it comes from Prodrive missing projected income targets. The relationship between the two companies has been tumultuous, leading the BMW brass to terminate the partnership and search for another partner for its rally cars. One potential suitor could be X-Raid, the organization behind the Mini Countryman that recently won the Dakar rally. At this point, however, the future of BMW/Mini rally program is still unclear.