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The manual transmission in the Mini Cooper is officially dead

We feared this might be the case after learning all about the latest Mini Cooper, but now it’s confirmed: The manual Mini is dead. Confirmation of the news comes from Mini boss Stefanie Wurst via an interview with Top Gear. “We wonÂ’t have a manual, unfortunately,” Wurst told TG in reference to the new generation of Cooper. Mini revealed its new model last week in the lead-up to the Munich Motor Show, and while the company was happy to share all the details on the electric E and SE, the gas models remained shrouded in a bit of mystery. We know there will be a base and an S model powered by gasoline engines, and now we know that they will be exclusively equipped with automatic transmissions. The elimination of the manual transmission is a tad ironic, given Mini just recently opened a Mini Manual Driving School in California. The point of that school was to teach people how to operate a manual transmission, but now Mini wonÂ’t have any in its lineup come 2025. This news was also foreshadowed a bit by the introduction of the Mini John Cooper Works 1 to 6 Edition earlier this year. Mini made that model as an ode to the manual, and it limited production to just 999 units worldwide. It looks like that special edition is more of a send-off to the manual transmission than anything at this point. As of now, you can still get the manual transmission on the Mini Hardtop and Convertible models, but the 2024 model year will be the end of this generation of Mini, and with it, the end of the manual transmission in the lineup. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green MINI Hatchback Electric

BMW seeks partners for electric Mini, could make it an all-EV brand

LOS ANGELES — Germany's BMW is talking with other automakers "around the world" to try to find partners to lower the cost of electrifying its future Mini small cars, management board member Peter Schwarzenbauer told Reuters. "We are talking to many OEMs (manufacturers) around the world, not only in China, (about) how to electrify smaller cars," Schwarzenbauer said. "There's no final conclusion on it." Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor said last month it was discussing a possible venture to build Mini vehicles in China. BMW currently does not build Mini vehicles outside Europe. Schwarzenbauer declined to discuss the Great Wall situation, saying "this was speculation." However, he said building smaller electric cars was challenging, not only because of the financial costs, but also the engineering problem of fitting batteries with sufficient range into a smaller vehicle package. BMW has worked with rivals before to share the costs of clean vehicle technology. The automaker has a partnership with Toyota to develop fuel cell vehicles. BMW has said it plans to launch a new, electric Mini model in 2019. Eventually, Mini could become an entirely electric brand aimed at urban consumers, Schwarzenbauer said. Mini sales in the United States have fallen 10 percent through the first 10 months of this year, as demand for many smaller cars has waned in favor of sport-utility vehicles and trucks. "It's really only in the U.S. where we are facing this with Mini," Schwarzenbauer said. BMW will not try to reverse that trend by adding larger SUVs to the Mini lineup, Schwarzenbauer said. Instead, he said, "the way for Mini in the U.S. is ... building the Mini brand in the direction of the electric urban mobility company." On a separate issue, Schwarzenbauer said BMW intended to offer a self-driving car planned to debut in 2021 at a price that could be below $100,000. The iNEXT model, which BMW previewed earlier this year, will be offered to individuals, ride services fleets and put into service in BMW fleets, Schwarzenbauer said. "By 2021, you will have a lot of people who want to own this car," he said. "It will be a normal price. We are thinking of scaling this. To bring a $150,000 electric car is nice, but it will not really scale." When it launches, the iNEXT may not be offered with complete, so-called Level 5, autonomy because the regulatory and legal frameworks for such a vehicle likely won't be in place, Schwarzenbauer said.

Mini Countryman Rooftop Tent | Autoblog Minute

Never sleep on the ground again when you camp with your Mini Countryman. A new tent from the Italian maker Autohome has teamed up with Mini to create a custom rooftop tent. Mattress Included. MINI Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video