Car news, 11 November ’24: Mini JCW three-door priced from $57,990, EU pushes for battery ‘passports’, and more

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Thanks for joining us this Monday 11 November 2024. Notably in car news today: Mini Australia has confirmed pricing and specification for its JCW variant of Mini hatch, and the European Union is pushing to have EVs made and sold in Europe to have passports to display information regarding battery health and history.

Browse this issue:

• New Mini JCW hot hatch priced from $57,990
• EU to push for battery passports in electric cars 
• Nissan to cut 9000 jobs, sell part of stake in Mitsubishi 
• Audi reveals three new models for China 

Three-door Mini John Cooper Works priced in Australia from $57,990

• Mini Australia has confirmed pricing for its hottest combustion hatchback, the Mini JCW, which will start from $57,990 before on-road costs. 

• Powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with outputs of 170kW/380Nm, the JCW will be available in two trim levels: Classic and Favoured. 

• The 2.0-litre is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and is front-wheel drive. The hot Mini can sprint to 100km/h in a claimed 6.1 seconds. 

• The Classic (priced at $57,990 plus on-road costs) will include adaptive cruise control, standard adaptive suspension, panoramic glass roof, JCW seats and exterior styling and a JCW steering wheel.

• Meanwhile, the Favoured ($60,990 plus on-road costs) will add performance tyres, electric front seat adjustment, and optional 18-inch 2-tone alloy wheels. 

• The new Mini JCW is due to arrive on Australian shores in the second quarter of 2025. 

The EU is pushing for battery passports in electric cars

• The European Union will push to make electric vehicle battery production better for the environment using battery passports. 

• By 2027, every vehicle battery manufactured or placed into service in the EU will need to have a battery passport – a unique electronic record about the battery’s life cycle and accessed via a QR code.

• The passport essentially explains the current health of the battery, what cell types are used and where its raw materials have been sourced from. 

• But it’s not just about sustainability and learning the roots of battery packs, but also to assist in the second-hand electric car market globally.

• If owners can scan a QR code and learn more about the how, why and what with the battery in their electric car, it could improve buyer’s trust in a relatively new EV market. 

• Data categories for battery passports include things such as battery chemistry, critical raw materials, carbon footprint, expected lifetime, supply chain due diligence and even manuals for removal and disassembly. 

Nissan to cut 9000 jobs, will sell part of stake in Mitsubishi: report 

• Nissan’s CEO, Makoto Uchida, has warned of an “extremely tough situation”, moving the Japanese automaker into an emergency recovery mode. It plans to slash 9000 jobs first and foremost. 

• Automotive News has also reported that Nissan is also set to cut production capacity and will sell a chunk of its stake in Mitsubishi as it plans to gain around USD$3 billion (AUD$4.5 billion) in additional savings.

• The Japanese automaker plans to cut its operational maximum capacity of its 25 production lines by 20 percent and will reduce its current vehicle development lead time to just 30 months. 

• Uchida will even forfeit 50 percent of his salary for the month as a way of taking responsibility for the slump in performance.

Audi announces three new models for China in partnership with SAIC 

• Audi has debuted its new E concept for the Chinese market, a model which has been developed in a joint venture with SAIC Motor – the owner of MG and LDV.

• Most noticeably, vehicles built in the joint venture will go without the iconic four-ring badge. Instead, the new models will be called, well, just Audi, but all in capital letters.

• The move to change badging is for Audi to target a younger generation of buyers exclusively in the Chinese market. 

• But while the all-electric E Sportback will be the first to market, it will be followed by two other models in both the mid-size and full-size segments.

• Expect to hear and see more of Audi’s collaboration with SAIC when the first model launches in 2025.

The next issue of Car News Today will be published on Tuesday 12 November at 4.30pm Sydney time.