Sections: Uncategorized Aug 19th, 2003 10 Comments With MINI dealers only located in the largest cities around the US there are many of us out there that are having to travel far and wide to find a dealer. This story comes from Business First (a publication out of Louisville). Here's an excerpt:
Since dealerships began selling the new Minis in the United States in March 2002, estimated annual U.S. sales have continued to increase, according to figures from Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association.
…Michael McHale, communications manager at the Mini USA headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., estimates that Mini's U.S. sales likely will come in a little lower than that this year, at approximately 30,000 — BMW's allocation level for the United States.
And that allocation to dealers is barely meeting the U.S. consumers' demand.
“We're selling 100 percent of our inventory,” said Ron Choudhury, sales manager for the Mini Store of Cincinnati. “All of the cars on the lot are getting turned every month. By the end of the month, we're empty.”
Since the latter part of last year, the Cincinnati dealership has been selling between 30 and 40 Minis a month, said Bruce Mackey, marketing manager for the Mini Store of Cincinnati.
Choudhury estimates that 35 percent to 45 percent of his business comes from Louisville and Lexington.
To sell the Mini, dealerships had to agree to provide separate floors or showrooms for the Minis that would be independent of their BMW dealerships, McHale said.
“We went to 300-plus BMW dealers and told them what we planned to do and what the investment was for a Mini dealership,” he said. “Of that 300, two-thirds said they were interested in selling it. From that, we whittled it down to 75 dealerships.”
Besides population, the markets for dealerships were chosen based on a basic feel for the types of people who would be interested in buying the Mini, McHale said.
…The reasons for limiting the number of dealers are twofold. BMW officials don't want to saturate the U.S. market with Minis, and its production plant in Oxford, England, can't handle Mini mass production.
“We've chosen to use both of those (factors) to our advantage,” McHale said. “There is always a temptation to sell everything you make and keep making more, but we would rather continue to sell consistently for the next several years.
“We're not really chasing too much growth at this point,” he said. “We would rather keep some momentum.”
This is a solid article and well worth reading the full text if you have time. You can find the original story here.
It's also nice to see something written based on the perspective of an area that doesn't have a MINI dealership. I think those of us in cities with two or more dealerships forget that MINIs are still a fairly rare sighting in the vast majority of the US.
Lee Langston Aug 19th, 2003 Link
I would sure like to know how they decided to place dealerships. Here in NC, there is only one dealership, Flow in Winston Salem. W-S is very close to Greensboro and between them, they are the 3rd largest metro area in NC. Both Raleigh and Charlotte are much larger. Did the dealers here in Raleigh and in Charlotte just decide they did not want to go to the trouble of having the seperate showroom?
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Frank Aug 19th, 2003 Link
South Florida is the biggest MINI market in the nation after California. We have 4 MINI dealerships in a 60 mile radius (2 of them in Miami and 1 in Ft Lauderdale) and yet another one coming up soon (Vista MINI in Pompano Beach).
Buying or getting a MINI service in this area is a non issue. In Miami alone I see at least 20 to 30 MINIs every day…it has become a very common car here.
Also Florida has a total of 7 MINI dealers as follows:
Miami = 2 Ft Lauderdale = 1 Pompano Beach = 1 (Coming soon) West Palm Beach = 1 Orlando = 1 Tampa = 1 Jacksonville = 1
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Gabe Aug 19th, 2003 Link
Chicago's not too far behind with three around the city and another just 45-50 miles away in Milwaukee. It's pretty easy for people in the area to shop at all four.
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Dustin Sep 6th, 2003 Link
There are zero dealers in Vermont, zero in New Hampshire… we live in Central VT and are purchasing ours from Peabody of Boston!… the servicing is going to be a huge pain!
ps… our dark silver/black MCS was built a day and a half ago!
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Sunil Aug 8th, 2004 Link
Even in a place like Washington, DC, the lack of dealers becomes an issue. We live in Alexandria, VA, and our nearest dealer is in Sterling, VA (about 1 1/4 hours away). Our local BMW dealer (only a mile away) has been rumored to have lost their bid for a MINI dealership.
We're almost ready to get one, but the long drive for service is one stumbling block we have to get over.
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John Aug 8th, 2004 Link
Here in the Northwest, we have two dealers – one in Portland, OR, one in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA area. One has up to a year wait list and there isn't een taking orders right now. The demand in the NW is high. I bought from a Chicago area dealer and am having the car shipped out here.
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Pebbles Aug 8th, 2004 Link
We need help here in Texas. With only 5 dealerships, there are many MINI owners who face a 2-3 hour drive just to see the service dept.
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Travis Aug 8th, 2004 Link
Service wouldn't be such a big issue if you could take your MINI to a BMW dealer for the routine stuff like oil changes and the like. I also face a 3 1/2 drive to Kansas City for service.
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Dillon Aug 9th, 2004 Link
In GA,it seems that the dividing line is Atlanta. Golbal Imports MINI tends to get people who want MINIs from the Northern part of the city and state;and Hank Arron MINI tends to get people who want MINIs from the Southern part of the city and state. Golbal usually has the best selection and best price;however,one has to deal with the,”…great,you can't afford a BMW therefore you're second class” attitude from most of the Sales and Service Staff. The direct oppositive is usually true with Hank Arron.
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Dayla Oct 20th, 2004 Link
I made the decision to purchase and am now chasing down dealers as far away as Nashville – I live in Seattle – trying to find a new MINI S that will be shipped in 4-6 months instead of the 15 months for all of the West Coast dealers. No wonder dealers are selling at MSRP it will cost an additional $1000 to either pick it up or have it shipped to my location.
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