Photo: MINI
The 3-door is the car that started the rebirth of the MINI brand, but sales of this quirky little model are quite low. As as a result, rumors talk about it being dropped, just like the 3-door version of the Audi A1.
The brand as a whole isn't doing spectacularly well, with just 47,000 units delivered in America last year. To be honest, the 3-door isn't performing badly, averaging over 11,000 units last year compared to 7,723 for the 5-door model. And even though it's an SUV, the Countryman isn't doing much better (14.863 sales in 2017).
But the point is, having such a large and varied lineup is costing BMW a lot of money. A report from Motoring File claims that "some within BMW that believe MINI should kill the 3 door hatch."
Who are those "some"? We don't know, but the change might happen around 2022, when the current generation is retired.
Of course, the 3-door is the core of the brand. If you ever go to one of those MINI cross-country rallies, you'll see that it forms the vast majority. Of course, there's also a thing called the Beetle Tour, and VW is discontinuing the Bug anyway.
The article talks about all the other similar cars that are getting canceled, like the 3-door VW Polo, 3-door Golf, Scirocco, 3-door Audi A3 and so on. Of course, most of those were never available in America, to begin with, perhaps for a good reason.
Sales of the classic MINI body are slowing in Europe as well, while China was never interesting in something like this. We've often seen the British brand as having an identity crisis, trying novel ideas like the Paceman or Roadster just to drop them a few years later.
It's even worse now, as the market is 100% geared towards crossovers and electric cars. And even though MINI has the Countryman, most brands have several 4x4s. Let's just hope their first EV isn't a superficial attempt as well!
But the point is, having such a large and varied lineup is costing BMW a lot of money. A report from Motoring File claims that "some within BMW that believe MINI should kill the 3 door hatch."
Who are those "some"? We don't know, but the change might happen around 2022, when the current generation is retired.
Of course, the 3-door is the core of the brand. If you ever go to one of those MINI cross-country rallies, you'll see that it forms the vast majority. Of course, there's also a thing called the Beetle Tour, and VW is discontinuing the Bug anyway.
The article talks about all the other similar cars that are getting canceled, like the 3-door VW Polo, 3-door Golf, Scirocco, 3-door Audi A3 and so on. Of course, most of those were never available in America, to begin with, perhaps for a good reason.
Sales of the classic MINI body are slowing in Europe as well, while China was never interesting in something like this. We've often seen the British brand as having an identity crisis, trying novel ideas like the Paceman or Roadster just to drop them a few years later.
It's even worse now, as the market is 100% geared towards crossovers and electric cars. And even though MINI has the Countryman, most brands have several 4x4s. Let's just hope their first EV isn't a superficial attempt as well!
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