May 5, 2022—Supply chain issues are causing Mini Cooper to temporarily drop manual transmissions from their vehicle lineups.
According to Kelley Blue Book, current data suggests that 6% of cars sold in the United States use a stick shift, and up to 87% don't offer manual transmissions as an option at all.
“In order to secure maximum production output to meet increasing customer demand, our product offer needs to be simplified.” Mini said in a statement, according to Kelley Blue Book.
This will not affect Mini Cooper vehicle prices in the United States, as the manufacturer charges the same amount for manual and automatic models.
Dropping the manual transmission option is planned to be temporary and the models will return as the supply chain situation improves.
However, the timing is interesting as Mini has plans to sell an all-electric lineup by 2030.