Mini axes manual gearboxes in Australia

THE writing is on the wall for Minis with a manual transmission as buyers here and overseas overwhelmingly tick the automatic box when ordering their new car.

Mini Australia cites changing tastes, stock shortages and manufacturing hold-ups that caused a halt to manual transmission production for more than eight months from May last year, as reasons for falling sales of manual Minis. 

A mere 6.1 per cent of all Mini sales in Australia year were manual, spread mostly between the Convertible and Clubman models with the Hatch running at half their manual sales rate. It has prompted a swift reaction from Mini Australia.

James Orlov, who is Mini head of product and planning for Australia and New Zealand, was unequivocal in a media statement : "Mini will no longer offer manual transmissions for the Australian market from now until the end of production for current-generation products."

That point is fast approaching as a heavily revised Mini hatch is due for introduction later this year and could precipitate a decision from head office to stop production of manual Minis entirely given international uptake for the manual ‘box is declining as quickly as it has in Australia.

However, on the other side of the Pacific, Mini USA has recently launched a ‘manual driving school’ and announced that Mini models produced for that market after November last year would be offered with a six-speed stick-shift.

The latest Mini has transmuted into a premium small car with all the trimmings in numerous configurations ranging from a three-door hatch to six-door wagon with a drop-top thrown in for good measure. 

All are now almost fully automated or electrically operated with power assistance to many functions and controls, so having ‘auto only’ would make sense for Mini.

It is all a far cry from when Sir Alec Issigonis designed the first Morris Mini Minor back in the late 1950s as a bare bones, cheap to buy and run, two-door runabout that had the starter button on the floor and sliding side windows. Pretty much everything was operated manually including the four speed manual (only) gearbox.

Times change and with an international transition to battery electric vehicles (BEV) gaining pace, changing gears will become redundant as BEVs preclude the need for automatic or manual gear changes.

A no-cost manual transmission ‘option’ has been available across more than half the 48-model Australian Mini line-up until now.

The demise of manual transmissions among new car buyers is reflected across the broader Australian market with automatics favoured by 95 per cent of new vehicle buyers.

With SUV buyers the ratio is closer to 99 per cent while the lion’s share of manual sales come from the commercial vehicles sector that is also in a slower transition to electrification.

Not counting the high-performance Hyundai i20 N and Toyota GR Yaris, Mini had been one of the last premium light car brands to offer a manual transmission option across the in the three- and five-door Cooper line up.

Sportscars are rapidly becoming the only repository for manual transmission but that is tipped to change given the move to BEVs and hybrids.