Mini will not supply a guide transmission in its redesigned Cooper hatchback, which implies the transmission is formally lifeless at a model that till now was one in all its strongest proponents.

Talking with Prime Gear at this week’s 2023 Munich auto present, the place Mini confirmed off its new Cooper in electrical guise, model boss Stefanie Wurst confirmed neither the electrical model nor the yet-to-be-revealed fuel model will supply the choice of a guide.

The brand new Cooper arrives as a 2025 mannequin however precise timing for the beginning of gross sales within the U.S. hasn’t been introduced. A redesigned Countryman has additionally been revealed for the 2025 mannequin yr, and a smaller crossover to be referred to as the Aceman can be on observe to reach for the 2025 mannequin yr to finish the next-generation Mini lineup.

The demise of the guide at Mini is not an enormous shock because the model in Might rolled out a particular 1to6 Version model of its outgoing hatch as a celebration of the guide transmission.

2024 Mini John Cooper Works 1to6 Version

A senior govt at Mini’s BMW mother or father firm additionally mentioned in June that each the guide transmission and dual-clutch automated are on their method out, as standard torque converter-based automatics are higher suited to the EV transition.

Mini earlier this yr revealed the outcomes of a survey, which confirmed that almost half (49%) of all Gen Z respondents indicated they did not know the way to drive a guide. When requested in the event that they had been keen to study, 53% of the Gen Z respondents indicated they had been interested by studying the way to row their very own gears. That proportion grows when all ages as much as 34 are counted; on this case 67% mentioned they had been desperate to study.

To cater to people seeking to learn to drive stick, Mini has been working a guide transmission driving course since final fall on the BMW West Coast driving college situated on the Thermal Membership non-public racetrack in California. It is not clear whether or not the course will stick round now that the model is ditching the guide.