Mini’s hot Chilli pricing

MINI Australia has lowered the price of the Chilli options package on its Cooper hatch, Clubman and Cabrio models to $900, a claimed reduction of more than 75 per cent.

The Chilli package – for which most Cooper buyers tick the box – adds various alloy wheel upgrades, a Harmon Kardon sounds system, sports seats, climate control and cloth/leather upholstery.

The package also adds chrome exterior highlights to the Cooper hatch, Cooper D, Cooper Clubman and Cooper Cabrio, while the all Cooper S variants gain Bi-Xenon headlights with washers.

The price cut means that the top-selling Cooper S hatch with a Chilli package now gets a claimed $5500 of extra value for $900. The revised pricing does not, however, apply to the recently-introduced Countryman SUV.

Mini sales have taken a hit in 2011, despite the introduction of a facelifted hatch and cabrio range in November last year and the all-new Countryman compact SUV in February.

The company sold 620 cars to the end of April, a decline of 26.4 per cent compared to the previous year.