The next all-new MINI will be called the MINI Cooper and it'll arrive in 2024

MINI has announced that an all-new generation of its smallest model will be unveiled later this year, with cars hitting the road in early 2024.

Rather confusingly though, the little hatchback will no longer be called the MINI Hatch, or the MINI One, or whatever it’s known as right now. It’ll actually be called (drumroll please)… the MINI Cooper.

Yep, Cooper will cease to be a trim level/variation of the little icon and will now become a family name, with three-door, five-door and cabriolet Coopers all under the same umbrella. Makes sense, no?

Here’s where it gets even more confusing though, because we’re told by MINI boss Stefanie Wurst that the trim levels on offer for all Coopers will be E, SE and JCW.

Now, that’s rather odd given that – with the three-door at least – you will be able to choose between an all-electric or combustion powertrain, which means you could have an entry-level, petrol-powered MINI called a ‘Cooper E’. We need a lie down.

Anyway, we’ll get official confirmation of all of this later in the year, but for now we know that the five-door will be combustion-engined only to begin with. The three-door will look almost identical whether you go for petrol or electric power, but the two will sit on completely different platforms underneath.

If you do go electric, the E will come with a 40kWh battery and 181bhp while the SE will use a larger 54kWh unit for 215bhp and nearly 400km of range.

The interior of the new Cooper will be similar in design to the current generation, although it is likely to drop the dial display behind the steering wheel in favour of a bigger, round central screen that acts as both a driver display and infotainment screen.

The Cooper family will be joined in MINI's range by a new, larger Countryman SUV (which will eventually get an all-electric option) and the EV-only Aceman crossover.

TEXT Greg Potts