The new Mini Cooper S has a new look and feels like a small car.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
Think back to the turn of the millennium, when BMW launched the New Mini as a funky little British car.
It happened during the tail end of the second British Invasion, whose influence ran the cultural gamut from Britpop mainstays Blur, Oasis and the Spice Girls to David Beckham’s best years at Manchester United, and Mike Myers’ satirical spy trilogy Austin Powers, the influence of which on me and my 13-year-old peers back then cannot be overstated. In the year 2000, small cars were not yet an endangered species, SUVs were still essentially trucks and the New Mini was (sorry) “Groovy, baby.”
It’s a shame the Mini will never be as cool or zeitgeisty as it was back then, because now – in its fourth-generation with the arrival of the new 2025 model – it’s a great little car. I’m just not sure anyone will even notice this quirky British hatchback in a market utterly dominated by SUVs.
It wasn’t always like this. Despite Americans’ well-documented fondness for large vehicles, the Mini used to be popular. In 2012, the brand sold 66,123 cars in the United States, more than in any other country.
On the rooftop bar of a trendy Los Angeles hotel in 2016, during the launch of the third-generation BMW Mini convertible, a high-ranking BMW executive told me he expected Mini’s sales would take off in America if gas prices hit US$3 or US$4 a gallon. (At the time, gas was cheap, averaging around US$2 a gallon.) The thinking was that if gas became more expensive, small, frugal cars like the Mini would become even more popular.
The back seats of the new Mini Cooper S.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
What happened next did not go Mini’s way. The average price of gas in the United States did climb to $4 in 2022 and averaged $3.60 last year, but it didn’t help Mini sell more cars.
In 2023, Mini sold just 33,497 vehicles in the United States, roughly half the number from 2012. Here in Canada, Mini sales peaked in 2017 at 7,051 cars. For years now the brand has been treading water, staying afloat by releasing only refreshed models and special editions. Sales in Canada have hovered around the 4,000 mark for a few years, which is not great, but still better than other small cars like the Smart ForTwo (discontinued in Canada) and Fiat 500 (discontinued, then revived as an EV).
Part of the problem was that the Mini felt stale. The third-generation Mini has been around relatively unchanged since 2014. Until now.
The 2025 Mini Cooper hatchback finally has a new look, inside and out, but it hasn’t even registered as a blip on the cultural radar, a magnitude zero-point-zero nothing quake. That’s a shame because this 2025 Mini is, actually, wonderful.
For starters, it feels like a small car now. Okay, it’s not small like Sir Alec Issigonis’s original 1959 design, but it is small as judged against modern SUVs. Crucially, the fourth-generation of the New Mini is roughly the same size as the 2015 model, but since nearly everything else on the road has grown larger since then, the new Mini feels pleasantly mini.
An ultra-thin and beautiful circular OLED display takes centre stage on the dashboard.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
The best thing about it, by far, is the cabin. Unlike most modern cars, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The unusual material choices, colours, sound and lighting make the cabin a fun place to be. Two projectors beam various graphics onto the two-tone fabric dashboard. The traditional instrument display is replaced by an unobtrusive head-up display system. An ultra-thin and beautiful circular OLED display takes centre stage on the dashboard. (The software occasionally lags, but we hope an over-the-air update can fix that.)
Underneath the circular display is a row of toy-like toggle switches and knobs that are used to start the engine, put the car in gear and change driving modes. (Shift into Go-Kart mode and the car shouts “Woohoo!” through the speakers.) A cartoon dog mascot, named Spike, keeps popping up on the infotainment screen. It’s all silly, sure, but it’s also cute and it fits the brand.
Over all, the cabin is similar to the oh-so-cool 2022 Mini Strip concept designed by British fashion mainstay Sir Paul Smith, striking a nice balance between minimal and playful.
As for the rest of the new Mini, the suspension is about as comfortable as you’ll find on a small car; it’s certainly come a long way from the awful oxcart ride of early models.
The trunk on the new Mini Cooper S is not for large suitcases.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
The two-litre turbocharged four-cylinder – which puts out 201 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque – in the 2025 Mini Cooper S is adequate, if unremarkable.
The most glaring problem The lack of any manual control of the gearbox. It’s bad enough there’s no more three-pedal manual transmission available, but the fact there aren’t even paddle-shifters is puzzling on a car pitched as fun to drive. (If driving fun is what you’re after, consider waiting for the new all-electric Mini to land later this year.)
The only other disappointment is, predictably, the price. The Mini Cooper S starts at $39,990. With the addition of a few luxuries – including an upgraded stereo, wireless phone charger and sports seats – the price on the car you see here jumps to $46,590, before taxes and fees.
At long last, the 2025 Mini Cooper S delivers on the promise of a modern Mini. It’s playful, cute and practical, but, 24 years after the relaunch of the brand, it’s just not clear if North American drivers still want a groovy little British hatchback.
The dashboard is two-tone fabric.Matt Bubbers/The Globe and Mail
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