The Mini Cooper SE closed the iconic British brand's 2021 sales books as its most popular model, which speaks volumes when you consider the company's decision to shift to an all-electric line-up in 2030. Mini's worldwide sales experienced a 3.3% uptake to 302,144 units but electrified products, in particular, benefited from a 64.3% increase to 53,243 units. This translates to 18% of its global market share.

The all-electric Cooper SE benefited from a 98.2% increase. In total, 34,851 of these were sold which means that every third customer preferred the three-door, all-electric experience. The plug-in hybrid Mini Cooper SE Countryman ALL4 achieved a modest second-place finish with a confirmed 18,392 units sold, reflecting an increase of 24.2%. Mini notes that every fourth Countryman sold was powered by an electrified drivetrain.

"The excellent overall result and the fact that every tenth new Mini is fully electric show that our strategy for the future is setting the right priorities," says Bernd Korber, Head of the Mini Brand. "The Mini community is growing, and it is moving towards electromobility with great strides."

Germany came in as the biggest market for the Mini Cooper SE with more than 10,000 units finding new homes in the region. On top of this, 3,473 units of the Cooper SE Countryman were sold which means that 31% of all new Minis registered in the country last year were electrified. Norway was one of the only sectors able to best this, with a 96% figure.

Iceland on the other hand, achieved an electrified sales rate of 100% because it was the first region to adopt Mini's electrified-only line-up strategy. The Cooper SE accounted for 62% of sales while the Cooper SE Countryman collected the remaining 38%.

Electrification aside though, Mini notes that its John Cooper Works division also celebrated an impressive year of sales. Last year, the JCW performance arm achieved 21,132 unit sales, a 2.4% gain over 2020. Seven percent of the brand's total market share was accredited to the hot hatch and crossover offerings with the three-door model acting as the most popular at 9,389 units. The Countryman models sold 4,317 units while the Clubman achieved a sales figure of 3,945. The Convertible closed the books with a modest figure of 3,481 sales.