2023 Mini Hatch Image Leak Shows Big Design Changes

There’s no denying that Mini has been very vocal in its aspirations and ideologies for the forthcoming Mini Hatch, but the physical interpretation of the car has still been kept under hush whispers until now.

Although the official reveal is still some time off, a leak from China has shed light on what the car will look like. Several social media outlets posted images of the all-new Mini Hatch with its revised body shape for the first time.

The front-end remains unmistakably Mini, but the rear has had plenty of revamping. The taillights in particular have evolved from the long-standing oval shape to a slightly more pugnacious triangular cluster design, with a black tailgate strip acting as the centrepiece. We’re certainly glad those tacky Union Jack motifs are gone.

The interior also benefits from a breadth of changes. Mini has retained the quirky circular central touchscreen, but it’s now a floating tablet-style affair. It’s also ditched the conventional instrument and dash design entirely, replacing it with a head-up display unit. A two-spoke steering wheel completes the triad of meaningful interior changes.

The new Mini Hatch will be based on a platform created by the joint efforts of BMW and Chinese firm Great Wall. There will be a purely electric variant, which will be built in China, while the petrol version is set to be made in Oxford. The Oxford plant will also act as the production house for the next-gen Convertible.

Bernd Korber, the head of BMW’s Mini division, previously said the following when quizzed about his desire to reverse the growth spurt that Mini has experienced since the noughties: ‘’When I say small, I mean I want to make a small three-door hatch again. Today there are some restrictions for pedestrian safety, but we would like to, in terms of design and exterior, make the three-door hatch as small as possible.”

While the leaked images point towards a somewhat smaller Hatch, especially when you examine the front and rear overhangs, the car still seems to be some way off city car-sized dimensions.

Something that will really get Mini fans excited is the potential release of a John Cooper Works (JCW) edition, although it’ll be a very different beast from the current version. “We have to go and define JCW in an electrified context and era. But that’s possible, there’s no problem, no contradiction,’’ said Korber.

What do you think about the all-new Mini Hatch?