Big news out of Munich today as BMW announces a deeper strategic partnership with Toyota. Specifically, this strategic partnership will focus on four major areas: Fuel Cell Systems A “future sports vehicle” platform Powertrain electrification Lightweight materials and manufacturing While these areas of focus could have a wide range of applications throughout BMW Group, we think they point to one particular exciting possibility: a production version of the MINI Rocketman concept. We can’t confirm yet that the “future sports vehicle” platform is indeed the MINI city car, but we’ve been hearing rumblings to that end from our sources for a little while now. It’s possible that this partnership could include BMW collaborating heavily with Toyota on the next generation platform for the Toyota iQ. This platform could then underpin a production version of what we now know as the MINI Rocketman — a car that would deliver a MINI in nearly its classic footprint. Now before anybody gets too excited, or too upset, keep in mind that we’re not talking about the Aston Martin approach here. A production Rocketman would not be a re-badged Toyota iQ. Instead, the two cars would share chassis and drivetrain components (and possibly even alternative energy drive systems), but be otherwise very different cars. Bottom line, Toyota’s involvement helps make the Rocketman possible in the first place, as the upcoming FXX platform would not be able to shrink to fit the Rocketman’s diminutive dimensions. MotoringFile