The Man Behind MINIUSA

JD Powers has a fantastic interview with MINIUSA General Manager Jack Pitney that is a good read for any MINI owner. It's also great for those of you out there that would like to know more about one of the main decision makers behind MINIUSA. Mr. Pitney touches on everything from the introduction of the car in the US to what will continue to make the MINI a successful brand in the years ahead. Here's an excerpt:

“When we started this process, less than 1% of America had any idea what Mini was. There were people who bought the car when it was last sold in the United States in 1967, or they had been stationed in the military overseas. Mini was the most popular car ever introduced-5.4 million of these tiny little boxes were sold. But only 10,000 were sold here, and that was between 1960 and 1967. It had been 35 years since it was last sold in the U.S. So there wasn’t a lot of brand equity for us to build on.

So, we had the introduction of a new brand and also the creation of a new segment-I underscore this point because in hindsight people look at this and say, ‘You knew you had it.’ No, we had a lot of sleepless nights on this one. Look at the market when we launched-light-duty trucks were outselling passenger cars, the SUV segment was the fastest growing segment in the marketplace. And what was happening to SUVs? They were getting bigger. Here we were getting ready to introduce the smallest car in America-smaller than the Geo Metro. A lot of people look at the Mini and don’t realize that because it is as wide as the BMW 3 Series, but it is really short.

This was a bit of a risk for us. But we knew that in Europe, this was really an icon. It stood for so much more than just a car. It was more of a lifestyle statement. The Queen of England had a Mini and the butcher has a Mini. We thought if we could take that same iconic stature of the Mini that was enjoyed in Europe and to a lesser extent in Asia and bring that to the United States, it would be a golden opportunity for us, similar to other brands like Harley Davison-when you buy a Harley, you’re not just buying a motorcycle, you’re buying a lifestyle. We thought this was a great opportunity for Mini.

We’re very serious about this, because we think it is important not just to introduce Mini as a brand, but to get it to that iconic status it enjoyed elsewhere in the world. Icons are classless and they appeal to all kinds of different people. They are not fads or trendy and they tend to have a broad appeal. If you look at the typical model introduced in the market, it enjoys acceptance and then it peaks and what happens? Competitors come into the market and sales decline. A trend or faddish product drops like a stone. For Mini and icons, they tend to go up and find their level. That is really important to us. If we can keep a consistent level of sales for Mini, it will help our profitability and it will help our dealers’ profitability.

We asked ourselves two questions: Does this Mini have what it takes to become an icon? What are those characteristics that are needed to become an icon? We boiled it down to six characteristics-these are not exclusive to the automotive business. The first is a defining signature look. When we researched Mini, we showed just a silhouette of the car. Nobody knew what it was. It could be a Honda, a Toyota or anything, but when you added the contrasting roof, the mirror caps and the wheels, suddenly it was a Mini.

The implication for us was that so few people knew what a Mini was in the first place that we really needed to visually communicate what it is through this signature look. The second characteristic is the ability to elicit an emotional or physical reaction. Iconic products and brands tend to do that and with the Mini, we are pleased to say this is a smile-generating machine. It has its own bulldog-like face and you can’t help but smile when you drive this car, because it is so much fun. So we felt pretty good about that.

The third characteristic is the ability to transcend and take on a characteristic from outside the category. Minis historically have anthropomorphized into so much more than the product itself. It was like the Three Dog Bakery idea-it’s not just a product but a member of the family.”

You can read the entire article here.

Analysis:

This is an article that every MINI owners should read. It gives you a solid understanding of exactly what MINIUSA has accomplished over the past year and a half. My hats off to those at BMWUSA who initially fought for the MINI to come to the US and then to the people at MINIUSA for continuing to support such a fantastic product so well.