Next Mini Cooper Will Get A Plug-In Hybrid, Spawn 1,000 Other Cars

BMW has ambitious plans for the 2015 Mini Cooper that's set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month. Maybe "ambitious" isn't the right word; maybe "world domination" is better.

According to a new Automotive News Europe interview with Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW's board member in charge of Mini, the new Cooper's platform — dubbed "UKL" will underpin 10 or more Mini and BMW vehicles.

Schwarzenbauer is tight-lipped on what that will mean exactly. He says that all seven (seven!) current Mini variants could be replaced, or all-new ones could be introduced. But he does say that a plug-in electric hybrid Mini is coming "for certain." They're considering a diesel Cooper for the U.S. too, which would be pretty cool.

We also know that at least one of those UKL-platformed cars will be the soon-to-be FWD BMW 1-Series, and possibly the next X1 crossover as well.

Earlier this year we heard that Mini was considering paring back some of their models, but that may not be the case anymore. At any rate, it seems like BMW plans to get a lot of mileage out of its platform.

What Mini variants should stick around and which ones should be allowed to die?