PARIS - SEAT will debut the new Mii Cosmopolitan at this years Paris Motor Show.

• Latest member of the Mii city car family co-created by the hands of the SEAT designers and COSMOPOLITAN editors and readers
• A car that understands the feminine side and lifestyle of the “fun and fearless” “COSMO girl”
• Available in two colours – Violetto and Candy White, with the 1.0 75 PS engine in the UK
• Pricing and specification will be released closer to UK launch in early 2017

The cars we drive are a reflection of our personalities, a carefully chosen investment that not only gets us from place to place, but defines who we are. For consumers looking for performance and fun, last night at Cosmo’s glitzy #FashFest, SEAT and Cosmopolitan launched the SEAT Mii by COSMOPOLITAN. 

The culmination of an 18-month co-creation process between SEAT and Cosmopolitan’s global creative team, regional editors and readers across the UK and Europe, the latest member of the Mii city car family is the perfect car for confident, independent, active young women who are really going places.

“This is a car that adapts to today’s lifestyle by providing amazing solutions that are both intuitive and easy to use. The SEAT Mii by COSMOPOLITAN is dynamic, stylish and versatile, with a daring, edgy appeal. Not only did we strive to create an elegant car, it is designed to be a bold, personal ally for the driver, with amazing solutions that are functional and intuitive,” SEAT’s global marketing director, Susanne Franz said.

Designed with the tastes and preferences of Cosmopolitan’s audience in mind, the Mii by COSMOPOLITAN is agile, exciting to drive and easy to park; an aesthetically pleasing car with personality. Cosmopolitan’s readers participated in the process, sharing thoughts and opinions through surveys and product testing, offering feedback and ideas.

Kim St. Clair Bodden, senior vice president and editorial director of Hearst Magazines International, explains,“Cosmopolitan is the biggest, most powerful young women’s brand in the world, engaging and inspiring our readers to achieve the fun, fearless lives they want. 

It has been incredibly rewarding to work with SEAT, our global editors and readers to design a car with all the bells and whistles that really personalise the driving experience.”

Cosmopolitan is supporting the launch with a social media campaign around the hashtag #ThisIsMii, with engaging content based on reader opinions and experiences, creating a conversation around the car, fashion, lifestyle, beauty and work, putting the SEAT Mii by COSMOPOLITAN in context with readers’ lives. 

From the social posts, readers can click through to the SEAT website for more detailed information on the Mii by COSMOPOLITAN. Following its debut at Cosmo #FashFest, the Mii by COSMOPOLITAN will be showcased at the Paris Motor Show at the end of this month.

Light and Shade, the Magic of Colour

Small on the outside, yet big on the inside, the Mii by COSMOPOLITAN is versatile, safe, economical, comfortable, reliable and kind to the environment. It’s also sophisticated, feminine and chic, with a design that reflects a bold, audacious, lifestyle.

The Mii by COSMOPOLITAN is available in two colours; Violetto and Candy White, with champagne-toned bismuth details inside and out. Candy White is a smooth tone, while Violetto has an elegant, pearlescent finish, achieved by carefully choosing colour pigments, revealing the ‘flip,’ or light, and the ‘flop,’ or dark, tones. 

Even its headlights have an ‘eyeliner’ shape, emphasised in the same way as make-up emphasises the eye. The jewelled, bi-colour alloy wheels works in harmony, offering a surprise sparkle.

The champagne-finish of the door mirrors is reflected in the interior details as well, on the air-vents, the infotainment system surrounds and in the stitching of the car, including the floor mats. 

Violet seats are upholstered in Alcantara, high-end, top-quality upholstery; while the ceiling is upholstered in dark tones, providing a sense of glamour. 

Aluminium strips in the front footwells are inscribed with “COSMOPOLITAN loves Mii.” The interior chrome details are matte, with the exception of the SEAT logo found on the steering wheel.

As Much Mii as Any Other Mii

Always innovating, SEAT is at the forefront of the growing trend towards collaborations between the car industry and partners in other sectors, first with women’s fashion and accessories retailer Mango, and now with Cosmopolitan.

The SEAT Mii by COSMOPOLITAN launches in the UK in early 2017 with the 1.0 75 PS engine and five-speed manual transmission.  The frugal engine emits 102 g/km of CO2, with fuel economy of 64.2 mpg on the combined cycle.

The Mii by COSMOPOLITAN has all the elements necessary to ensure a safe and comfortable drive, from air-conditioning to “Hill Hold Control” (to prevent roll-back), as well as a list of optional extras that allows the driver to configure a Mii with rear parking sensors and a 300-watt sound system and subwoofer. 

And for staying connected, the new infotainment system “Smartphone integration with Drive Mii app” has a smartphone cradle integrated into the dashboard. To amplify the driving experience, the SEAT Mii by COSMOPOLITAN app, “DriveMii” (available in Play Store or App Store for Android and iOS devices) enables the driver to control the infotainment system through a smartphone.

The Mii by COSMOPOLITAN is a car built for and co-created by women who want the time they spend behind the wheel to be as engaging and exciting as every other facet of their busy, fun, fearless lives.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrates race series success - well, sort of...

A closely-guarded partnership between Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and a team of budding racers finally broke cover on Sunday. The venerable environs of the Goodwood Motor Circuit did little to intimidate this team of maverick designers, engineers and drivers who produced a highly encouraging performance despite the wet track conditions.  

The car, a specially engineered electric racer, reached speeds of 8mph as it made short work of a track that has proved the scourge of some of the most revered names in motor racing history.

From practice through to the final race, the twin-battery 24 volt power-unit and aero package worked in perfect harmony. The team, an enthusiastic group of 10 and 11 year-olds from The March Church of England Primary School, just 100 metres from the Home of Rolls-Royce on the westerly corner of the Goodwood Estate, were ecstatic with a performance that built on the strength of a highly successful debut in the 2014 Green Power IET Formula Goblin race series.

The livery, inspired by the exploits of Sir Malcolm Campbell and his land-speed record winning craft, Bluebird, was designed by the March Team in collaboration with the Bespoke designers at the Home of Rolls-Royce. A series of masterclasses, held at the school and at the Company’s head office, determined the final choice of design and also gave the children an insight into the super-luxury automotive manufacturing process.

A team of Rolls-Royce Apprentices from Assembly, Engineering, Wood, Leather and the Surface Finish Centre then set to work, turning the design vision into a sleek, exquisitely finished racer, fittingly named ‘March 2 Glory’. Maggiore Blue, the colour made famous by the Phantom Drophead Coupé Waterspeed Collection, is perfectly counterbalanced with a timeless combination of aluminium-effect bonnet and grille surround.

A hand-painted coachline with hare logo, painstakingly applied by Master Coachliner Mark Court, sits above the team’s signature ‘March 2 Glory’ insignia. The addition of a sartorially on-point white pinstripe to the tyres completes a bold and evocative design scheme.

Comfort for the driver is guaranteed through the application of the finest grade Phantom leather in Tan, finished with Bespoke blue stitching. A perforated leather backrest displays the initials of all of the team members, hand-stitched by the children, overseen by the Leathershop Apprentice team.

In a unique nod to modern-day history, a ‘March Hare’ hand-veneered mascot, takes the place of the traditional Spirit of Ecstasy figurine. A similar mascot, in the shape of a rabbit, can be seen on the Rolls-Royce four-wheeled gravity racer, originally raced at the Goodwood Festival Speed Soapbox Challenge in 2002 and now on display at the Company’s head office.

Far from an exhibition of style over racing prowess, The March School car is an engineering triumph. An aluminium space-frame, reminiscent of the state-of-the-art frame that underpins the Rolls-Royce Phantom, has been specially built to reduce weight, in turn, reducing the friction coefficient between the road and tyres. 

The space-frame is clad in light-weight body panels, hand-moulded using advanced techniques in the Rolls-Royce Surface Finish Centre to the shape of the frame to make the car as aerodynamic as possible. Adherence to the strict guidelines of the Green Power IET Formula Goblin race series ensured the hackles of the eagle-eyed scrutineers were not raised.

An exhaustive process of testing and refining overseen by the marque’s Apprentice team ensured linear torque delivery from the car’s twin 12V battery pack. Exceptional road-holding capability is also maximised through intelligent channeling of airflow. This is via intuitive positioning of the ‘March 2 Glory’ number plate which is mounted and recessed at an optimal angle for maximum downforce – the perfect configuration for a rear-drive racer.

Andrew Ball, Global Corporate Communications Manager, said, “We were delighted to support The March CE Primary School with their 2015 Greenpower entry. The team at Rolls-Royce were impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and passion for the project and their attention to every detail. We have no doubt that they are designers and engineers of the future, and we look forward to welcoming them one day to the Rolls-Royce family.”

Chris Hicks, Maths Teacher, The March Church of England Primary School, said, “It has been a real privilege for the children to work with the experts from Rolls-Royce and I’m sure it has inspired many to pursue future careers in engineering.”

The race was organised by the Greenpower Education Trust, a charity that aims to promote sustainable engineering and technology to young people across the UK. Since inception in 1999, GreenPower has rapidly grown and now works with 500 schools and over 8,000 students.