New Mini Cooper Convertible to be axed! Iconic soft-top getting dropped in 2024: report

Mini will reportedly axe the Cooper Convertible from its model line-up in 2024 due to increasingly low sales, which are being partly caused by the rise of small SUVs.

Citing supply chain sources, Automotive News claims that once the current, third-generation Cooper Convertible ends production in February 2024, it won’t be replaced by a new, fourth-generation model.

Since its inception in 2005, the Cooper Convertible has been a niche player for Mini, especially when compared to its Cooper Hatch sibling, which remains the brand’s best-selling model, managing about 1800 annual sales locally in the past two years.

In Australia, Cooper Convertible sales have been on the decline since 2018, when they were down 14.7 per cent over 2017, to 279 units. In 2019, they dipped by a further 9.7 percent, to 252 units, while they’ve decreased by 6.1 per cent so far in 2020 (139 units to the end of July). In each of those years, the soft-top was Mini’s lowest-selling model.

Dropping the Cooper Convertible will help reduce Mini’s R&D and production costs, with resources then able to be allocated to more profitable SUV models, two of which are reportedly planned, including one with an all-electric powertrain.