2025 Acko Drive Awards: MINI Cooper S Wins Luxury Compact Car of the Year

The Luxury Compact Car is an interesting space. Not only does it include SUVs, it also has a hatchback this year. And what a hatchback, as it won the Luxury Compact Car category at the 2025 Acko Drive Awards. That hatchback is none other than the MINI Cooper S, a hot hatch with more than 200 bhp and a cute design. 

The other contenders for this category included the MINI Countryman E and the Mercedes-Benz EQA. The Cooper S outshined the two electric SUVs with its compact dimensions, peppy performance and out-of-the-box design. The Cooper S gets a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine churning out 201 bhp and 300 Nm, coupled with a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox sending power to the front wheels. It is a proper hot hatch, one of the very few currently available in India. 

As mentioned earlier, the Cooper S is the only internal combustion engine (ICE) model among the electric contenders in the segment. The Countryman E is the first electric SUV from MINI and the EQA is the most affordable EV from Mercedes-Benz. Apart from the contenders in its category, the Cooper S doesn’t also have any direct rivals at its price point (₹44.90 - 52.90 lakh).