Mini priming new John Cooper Works hot hatches after record year

Mini isn’t planning to further expand its line-up, new boss Jean-Philippe Parain has said, but offering increased options and customisation can help it to continue growing.

The Frenchman, who has previously held senior management roles within the BMW Group, took over at the British brand late last year.

In recent years Mini has renewed its line-up, with fresh versions of the electric Cooper hatchback and Countryman SUV, updates for the three- and five-door petrol Cooper hatchbacks and the new electric Aceman crossover.

Speaking to Autocar at the Beijing motor show, Parain said: "We have the biggest product range we’ve ever had, with five models. For a relatively small brand like Mini, it’s a very large range, and we’re very happy with where we are.”

Parain explained that Mini would instead focusing on broadening its appeal through expanding its range of options and personalisation, along with further derivates – particularly in its John Cooper Works performance line, where there “are still some possibilities”.

He added: “We are pushing John Cooper Works very strongly. We believe in our combustion-engine cars and we achieved an all-time high with John Cooper Works sales last year.”

Mini recently added more options for its models, shifting away from the simplification of such items in its recent model rollout.

“We had some ideas in terms of simplification, but that proved not exactly what the customer wants,” said Parain. “If you look at our configurator, we’ve really reopened the possibility to have single options and to customise and individualise our cars. We’ll play with that to the full, because it’s something really only Mini can do.”

Mini also recently revealed a range of special editions with outside collaborators – and Parain said “there are possibilities to explore there" still.

He noted that Mini’s size limits its offerings in this area but said “we’re really working to improve the diversification of our product offer". 

"With customisation there is a profitability aspect, of course, and it’s very Mini to make every Mini unique,” he added.

Parain also said that Mini will try to “really sharpen our Mini-ness”, explaining: “We want to exploit even more our heritage, our Britishness, but in a way that is modern and not cheesy. But it’s a very strong differentiation factor for us.”