Is Mini Planning To Kill Off Its Three-Door Hatch?

As Minis come and Minis go, the three-door hatchback (known as the two-door Hardtop in the United States) has been a mainstay of the Anglo-Saxon brand’s lineup. But even that could face the axe in the near future, if the latest reports are to be believed.

According to the Mini experts at MotoringFile, BMW is preparing to discontinue the core model – along with the convertible – when the current iteration winds down in a few years from now. But as unthinkable as it may seem for a brand built around the iconic hatch, it wouldn’t be without precedent.

For one thing, three-door hatchbacks have been dropping like so many flies across the industry as customers increasingly favor more versatile five-door bodystyles. For another, Mini has been paring down its lineup to just a few essential models, with the coupe/roadster and Paceman three-door crossover all having gone the way of the dodo – and plans to add more taken off the drawing board.

If the three-door hatch and convertible were to join them, that would leave only the five-door hatch, the Clubman wagon, and the Countryman crossover to carry on the Mini name and its signature retro design.

The reason, of course, comes down to dwindling sales. Where, as MotoringFile reports, Mini USA sold over 3,000 of the three-door hatchbacks in December of 2012, it moved just 867 of them last month. That would seem to spell out fairly clearly the business case for killing off the model. But the core status that the three-door hatch holds for the brand could ultimately prove its salvation. One way or another, we’ll find out when the automaker rolls out its next-generation hatchbacks in 2022.