JUAN Carlos Rivas, director of MINI Latin America, lauded ATL Autobahn and the ATL Automotive Group for their contribution to the brand in the Caribbean at the launch of the first-ever all-electric MINI Cooper SE at the ATL Autobahn showroom on Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew on Friday, May 27.

ATL Autobahn is the division of ATL Automotive that is responsible for the MINI and BMW brands.

“I would like to thank Adam Stewart, chief executive officer & executive chairman of the ATL Group, for incentivising the whole MINI team in Jamaica in order to be as relevant as we are,” said Rivas.

He went on further to thank Patrick Wilson, group managing director of ATL Automotive Group, and Stephen Hector, group sales and marketing director of ATL Automotive Group, for introducing the MINI Cooper SE to the Caribbean.

“Thank you both to your team for having created this magnificent event. It’s a benchmark for the rest of region. It’s an amazing event. Thank you, the whole MINI team who are present, you’re doing a great job. Thank you for your passion and emotion you bring out in our brand,” he continued.

Rivas highlighted the Caribbean as a very important region for MINI and that ATL Autobahn was at the forefront of its recently announced Power of Choice campaign announced in February, which would see more full electric MINIs by the end of 2025.

“I said I had to be here at this launch, having been present at other launches of the MINI Electric, but for me the Caribbean was particularly important because within our strategy, the Caribbean is the real future in terms of electrification. MINI Jamaica is the front-runner of the MINI brand in Latin America in terms of electrification. As a matter of fact, this MINI three-door, which is 100 per cent electric, is the first model the BMW Group is launching in the Caribbean, in Jamaica. And we’re doing it not because this is lab, but this is what we have to do here. You deserve it,” said Rivas.

Like Rivas, Sloane Jackson, head of business for ATL Autobahn, sees the local electric vehicle market expanding in the future.

“What’s next for MINI is that we’re waiting on the government of Jamaica to officially release the new taxes that are supposed to be available to EVs. The tax is only for EVs and not hybrids or any other variations, but it’s very important because it drastically increases the availability of the car to the public,” Jackson said.

With the lower tax rate, Jackson believes the take rate on EVs will rise due to the more competitive pricing against traditional internal combustion powered vehicles.