Australia is number two in the world for this Mini model

Mini’s high-performance John Cooper Works (JCW) range has proven popular amongst Australian consumers, so much so that only one country chooses more of the hot models over the rest of the range than local buyers.

At a recent event in Melbourne, general manager for Mini Australia and New Zealand, Alexander Brockhoff, told media that 16.3 per cent of Mini’s record 4269 local deliveries in 2023 were go-fast JCW models.

That equates to roughly 696 JCW vehicles across the Mini Convertible, Clubman, Countryman and Hatch lines.

Australia was second only to Switzerland for JCW share globally, with Australia and New Zealand combined sitting third.

Mini’s local boss also confirmed that 559 electric Minis were delivered in 2023, another record for the brand Down Under.

Mr Brockhoff also confirmed the future of the JCW performance sub-brand will be electrified, with further details to “be announced shortly”.

The BMW-owned British brand recently previewed its first electric hot hatch with the Mini John Cooper Works E Prototype, which made its public debut as a camouflaged pre-production model at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month.

Little detail has been given beyond the confirmation of a higher-performance model based on the Mini Cooper Electric, though we can expect the new halo model to offer more shove than the current 160kW/330Nm Cooper SE.

The all-electric Mini Cooper JCW will be revealed later this year in the European autumn, set to debut around the same time as its petrol-powered stablemate – the next-generation Mini Cooper JCW.

Shown as the MINI John Cooper Works PROtotype #317 at Goodwood, the petrol version of Mini’s flagship hot hatch recently triumphed at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with a class win in prototype form. Stay tuned for the latest.

Beyond the new JCW Cooper models, it’s logical to assume we might see electrified JCW versions of the new Aceman and Countryman in time – especially since the former is based on the same platform as the Cooper Electric.

Further, the all-new Countryman offers two electric versions in the E and SE, with the latter offering a beefy 230kW/494Nm dual-motor electric drivetrain shared with xDrive30 versions of the BMW iX1 and iX2.

While not billed as a JCW model, the Countryman SE’s 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds is just 0.2s off the claim of the new 233kW petrol-powered Mini JCW Countryman. There is, however, a JCW Sport package for the electric model.

Stay tuned to CarExpert for Australian launch drive reviews of the new-generation Mini Cooper, Cooper Electric, JCW Countryman and Countryman SE next week.

MORE: Everything Mini Cooper | Countryman