According to a recent report from BMW Group’s Australian branch, it seems like the MINI JCW badge is quite loved in the land down under. Apparently, the market penetration of cars wearing the John Cooper Works badge is double than the average posted for the rest of the world. While it may seem peculiar at first, the same situation applies for BMW M products in Australia, despite sky-high prices brought on by taxes and fees.
To be more precise, it turns out that 10 percent of all MINI cars sold in Australia are high-performance variants of otherwise perfectly fine cars. This means out of every 10 MINI Clubman models sold over there, 1 is a JCW version. That applies to every car in the portfolio too, from the hatch to the Countryman. At the same time, in other countries of similar or larger car market size, the figures are around 5 percent, on average, giving Aussies a well deserved nod from fans of great driving cars.
The same report claims that due to this high popularity, MINI JCW assembly lines are starting to get overworked and a supply shortage could come about as the company is struggling to keep up with the demand. Orders are starting to get backed up and that’s not valid solely for Australia but other countries as well. As for Aussies, it’s becoming rather clear that they prefer fast cars, somewhat explaining why Commodores and Falcons have been so popular over there.
As for the future plans of MINI and its John Cooper Works division and whether it will offer an even more aggressive model later down the line, MINI global senior vice-president Sebastien Mackensen said “I would say we are always looking at what could be options in the market, I wouldn’t like to close ourselves out to anything.” Well, maybe we won’t see the Coupe or the Roadster make a comeback, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a Superleggera!
