Production woes in Europe slash the effective MINI Australia model range from 49 variants to just four
Anyone thinking of ordering a new MINI could be in for a shock when they visit a dealership because the brand’s local arm only has access to four variants out of a possible 49 for the rest of this year.
The four variants in question are the 2022 MINI five-door Hatch Cooper Classic Plus, Cooper SE MINI Yours, Countryman Cooper S MINI Yours and the Countryman Cooper S E Hybrid MINI Yours.
Like most brands at the moment, MINI is struggling at the hands of the global semi-conductor shortage and the situation is being exacerbated by a lack of wiring harnesses resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a statement to carsales, MINI Australia confirmed the semi-conductor bottleneck had “impacted the availability of individual vehicle equipment options for certain” models, but made no mention of exactly which models or what equipment was affected.
The local division declined to comment any further when asked for more information, and continues to promote its full range at its public website, but the above intel was revealed and corroborated by two different MINI dealer sources at opposite ends of the country.
A third source later revealed the MINI dealer network has been instructed not to speak to the media and refer any potential enquiries to the MINI Australia public relations department.
carsales sources say that the four variants mentioned above are the only ones with available build slots for our market and, even then, they’ll be devoid of certain features like sunroofs and head-up displays where applicable.
One detail that remains unclear, however, is exactly how long consumers will be waiting for their vehicles after their order is submitted, even for the four variants currently able to be ordered.
Despite the prospect of a year-long wait for the model variants not included within this year’s build slots, some MINI dealers say that buyers are generally happy to bide their time and wait for their desired vehicle rather than settle for something else.
In short, they say MINI is a speciality brand with unique models that attract customers because they want one, rather than consumers who cross-shop different brands, but remains to be seen how long those discretionary purchasers will be willing to wait.
According to the PR department, the semi-conductor and wiring harness shortage is expected to “improve by early next year, possibly sooner” but what effect that has on local availability remains unclear.
