Mini’s unique six-door hatchback will reach the end of the road next year, amid declining sales and a move to electric cars and SUVs.
The final Mini Clubman is due to roll off the production line early next year, the company has confirmed – ahead of a new wave of electric cars over the next 18 months.
Mini Australia has confirmed reports production of the Clubman – a small six-door hatchback larger than the traditional Mini hatch, with a ‘barn-door’ split-opening tailgate – is due to end in February 2024.
The current-generation model was unveiled nine years ago, in 2015 – while the Clubman name stretches back to 2007 in its modern BMW-owned form, or 1969 as a version of the original Mini shape.
MORE: Mini Clubman to be axed early next year – report
A limited-run Clubman Final Edition unveiled for Europe (pictured in black) will not come to Australia, the company has told Drive, but order books remain open locally for Cooper S and John Cooper Works versions for the time being.
“Mini will not offer the Mini Clubman Final Edition for the Australian and New Zealand markets,” James Orlov, Mini Australia head of product and planning for Australia and New Zealand, said in a media statement to Drive.
“However, we will continue to offer the Clubman Cooper S and JCW variants until the model’s official end of production in February 2024.
“The Clubman’s departure paves the way for the development of next-generation of models in the lead up to Mini’s all-electric future in 2030.”
There will not be another generation of the Clubman wagon, which has been a relatively niche seller for Mini in Australia and overseas.
Its axing will make way for a new range of electric vehicles – including a new city-sized electric SUV known as the Aceman, along with the next Countryman SUV, which is due to undergo a growth spurt to appeal to US buyers requiring more space.
Three- and five-door versions of the standard Mini hatchback are slated for heavy facelifts next year – though only the three-door will gain an all-new electric variant, underpinned by an architecture developed with China’s Great Wall Motors, and built in China.
The current Clubman measures 4.27 metres long – smaller than the 4.3 or 4.4-metre length expected for the new Countryman – and is priced from $49,700 plus on-road costs, about $2000 more than a smaller Mini five-door hatch.
Mini Australia reported 207 Clubmans as sold last year, representing seven per cent of its total sales – and down 40 per cent on 2021 sales.
The post Confirmed: Mini Clubman dead next year appeared first on Drive.
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