Low demand and increasingly stringent emissions rules will resign manual-transmission Mini hot hatchbacks to the grave.
Hopes of a return of the manual transmission to the Mini range have been dashed, after just three in 100 customers globally ticked the option box for three pedals.
A manual gearbox was long a fixture of the Mini – the first BMW-era Cooper S of 2002 was initially only sold with one locally – but the latest-generation models have gone automatic-only.
And thanks to a combination of dwindling demand and the complexities of meeting new emissions rules, it is unlikely to ever return.
"With the end of the previous generation, we had a spike once we announced there wasn't going to be a manual, which is unsurprising," Mini Australia and New Zealand head of product James Orlov told local media.
"But we usually were seeing in the realm of about 3 per cent of our global volume.
"For the end of the previous generation, [the manual] was part of the uncertainty with wiring harnesses out of the Ukraine, [that] situation meant that we had to prioritise the volume mover, which was the automatic.
"In the new generation, it was not prioritised at all. And as we move towards EU7 [emissions rules] in Europe, that will probably see further development in that regard."
Orlov is referencing the complexity and added cost of running additional model variants with manual transmissions through emissions tests when they will not result in meaningful sales.
Six-speed manual versions of the outgoing Mini hatch also emitted more CO2 – and consumed more fuel – than their automatic counterparts.
"There's no plan for manual transmissions," said Alex Brockhoff, general manager of Mini Australia and New Zealand.
"Customer demand on manuals is very low. [And] the emission requirements, all the testing that goes into those and creating development topics around that shifts away from manual transmissions."
Asked if Mini is concerned it will lose customers, Brockhoff said: "The question is what manuals are still available overall and into the future?
"It's a very small percentage of buyers that had the manual transmission beforehand, and that's where the industry is going."
Over the first nine months of 2021, manuals accounted for 4.4 per cent of sales of three-door Cooper S hatchbacks, 5.3 per cent of five-door Cooper S hatchbacks, 10.3 per cent of JCW three-doors, and 6.5 per cent of Clubman Cooper S wagons.
In 2022 – despite manual Mini production for Australia being paused that May due to parts shortages – the manual accounted for 3.9 per cent of Mini hatchbacks, 8.2 per cent of Convertibles and 6.3 per cent of Clubmans sold.
Just six manual Minis were sold in 2023.
In the final months of the previous-generation Mini, the manual soared to 54 per cent of Cooper JCW orders in the US, as well as 22 per cent in the Cooper S, and even 11 per cent in the base Cooper.
The number of new manual cars left on sale in Australia has slumped to a modern-era low.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
