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Club door closing: Mini poised to end Clubman in 2024
Replacement, tipped to be a production version of the Aceman, will be an EV and feature reported input from Great Wall Motors (GWM).
Niche model that is the Clubman has been falling out of favour for years as a result of not being an SUV.
Brought back to life in 2007 as the spiritual successor to the original Mini Traveller, a report from the United States has alleged that BMW will officially be ending sales and production of the Mini Clubman in early 2024.
Not an SUV means limited sales
A cut-back that will see it join the Mini Convertible rumoured for discontinuing in the same year, the estate-styled Clubman, and its performance John Cooper Works offshoot, have in recent years accounted for the smallest percentage of Mini sales in lieu of the global market move towards SUVs.
In fact, a report from 2019 stated that the Clubman could morph into an SUV positioned below the Countryman, which itself will get a complete makeover by 2024 and move to an apparent mid-model role below the Traveller that will make a comeback in the same year using the FAAR platform from the BMW X1.
ALSO READ: Fizzing Mini Clubman JCW denounces ‘boring estate’ adage
A niche too far
Although unable to extract any details from Mini when contacted about the Clubman’s supposed departure, US publication Car and Driver, citing Mini fan page motoringfile.com, claims that the first quarter of next year will be the final encore for the Clubman that has been in production since 2015 at the Oxford Plant in the United Kingdom.
According to the publication, the Clubman ranked as the worst-selling Mini in the United States last year with the promises of more practically and added zest provided by the John Cooper Works and the “regular” Clubman Cooper S seemingly not resonating with buyers.
Instead, it is widely believed that the Aceman, shown in concept form last year, will succeed the Clubman as it too has been earmarked for unveiling in 2024 with an all-electric powertrain co-developed by Great Wall Motors (GWM).
The latter statement regarding the Aceman comes after BMW confirmed two years ago that an all-electric future awaits the Mini brand by 2030 with plans to wholly stop internal combustion engine vehicle sales in 2025.
An all-new version of the Mini Hatch was said to be in works for unveiling this year, though 2025 now seems like a better bet if Car and Driver’s claims are indeed accurate. Therefore, expect one final update to be applied this year before production wraps-up for good.
South Africa set to follow
The departure of the Clubman is likely to extend to South Africa where sales have been equally poor as a result of the local market’s well-known favouring of SUVs over estates.
For the time being, pricing for the Clubman starts at R596 215 for the entry-level Cooper and caps off at R855 697 for the all-wheel-drive John Cooper Works that delivers 225kW/450Nm from its turbocharged 2.0-litre engine.
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