In recent times, MINI has gone back and forth about keeping the manual gearbox in its portfolio for the next-generation cars but it looks like a final decision has been taken. Enthusiasts will be sad to hear the clutch pedal is being retired from the lineup as the upcoming models are going to be offered exclusively with an automatic transmission.
In an interview with Top Gear magazine, Head of MINI Stefanie Wurst broke the news: “We won’t have a manual, unfortunately.” Consequently, it means the John Cooper Works 1to6 Edition will likely go down in history as the brand’s final model with a stick shift. Unveiled earlier this year, the special version is capped at 999 units globally and is exclusively offered with a six-speed manual transmission.
In 2023 when increasingly stricter emissions regulations are encouraging automakers to launch more EVs, it doesn’t come as a surprise the 6MT is going the way of the dodo. The new Cooper and Countryman were introduced earlier this week at the 2023 IAA Mobility in Munich as EVs but conventionally powered versions are coming and all of them will have only two pedals. That includes the hot JCW derivative as well, which has already been previewed for the Countryman.
Come 2024, the Aceman will be MINI’s first electric-only model as a smaller crossover positioned below the Countryman. In only seven years from now, all gasoline/diesel cars are going to be discontinued from the lineup as the Oxford-based automaker has pledged to go purely electric by 2030. Around the same time, Rolls-Royce will build its final ICE car.
Meanwhile, if you hurry, you might still be able to find a MINI that allows drivers to row their own gears. Manuals are already somewhat of a rarity in 2023, so this announcement from the British brand isn’t all that surprising. It’s just another nail in the stick shift’s coffin.
Source: Top Gear
