Mini stirs with an EV model to come in 2020

Mini finds itself in an existential crisis — a small-car maker in an SUV world. Declining volumes, coupled with an anemic product pipeline, have the brand's U.S. retailers growing restless.

Mini's U.S. sales, which launched in 2002, peaked at 66,502 in 2013. The company declared that year that it would sell more than 100,000 vehicles per year here by 2020. The brand is expected to sell 36,000 vehicles in the U.S. this year, according to a lawsuit filed by the former chairman of the Mini dealer council.

Next year marks Mini's long overdue entry into the electric vehicle space.

The 2020 Mini Cooper SE, expected to arrive in U.S. stores in March, is powered by a 32.6-kilowatt-hour battery anticipated to have an EPA-estimated range of 114 miles. That could handicap the new entrant in the world of modern electrics, where 200-plus miles of range is considered table stakes.

But BMW has suggested that the Cooper SE could foreshadow the future of Mini.

"Electromobility is an excellent fit for our urban, progressive and open-minded customers," Peter Schwarzenbauer, the BMW Group board member formerly responsible for the Mini brand, told Automotive News Europe at the Geneva auto show in March. "To secure the long-term future of Mini, we will enable the range to be all-electric, should the customer prefer that."

Hardtop: The 2019 models now carry a standard LED version of Mini's characteristic circular headlights. The Hardtop could receive a redesign in 2021. The revived Mini John Cooper Works GP will arrive in mid-2020. The ultraperformance "pocket rocket" will be powered by a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine delivering more than 300 hp. It will be the first John Cooper Works GP with an automatic transmission.

Mini Cooper SE: The new full-electric Mini will go on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2020. It's powered by a 135-kilowatt motor that delivers 181 hp and is capable of going from 0 to 62 mph in 7.3 seconds. A redesign is expected in 2022.

Clubman: The freshened 2020 Mini Clubman and John Cooper Works Clubman are on their way to stores. Standard rear taillights feature a new Union Jack design to evoke the look of the British flag and are paired with standard LED headlights. The JCW version gets a more powerful 301-hp engine and can do a 0-to-62-mph sprint in 4.9 seconds. The Clubman is due for a redesign in 2023, when a plug-in hybrid variant might also arrive.

Countryman: For the 2020 model year, the JCW version of Mini's largest model gets a more powerful 301-hp engine. The Countryman is expected to receive a freshening in mid-2020.

Electric microcar: Mini could launch a three-door, electric-powered hatchback in 2022, based on the Rocketman Concept, according to Autocar.

The new model would be made in China via a joint venture between BMW and Great Wall Motors Co.