Rising Gas Prices Spark Huge Interest in MINI

Sections: Official News | Sales Jun 12th, 2008 28 Comments

MINI USA Press Release: MINIUSA.COM Experiences Unprecedented 88.9% Increase in Traffic as Americans Look to MINImize Their Gas Intake with the Coolest Small Car on the Market

In the wake of skyrocketing gas prices, MINI USA has received more than 920,000 visits to its website, MINIUSA.com, in the month of May â€“ a record 88.9% increase from May 2007. MINI, which established the premium small car segment and has nearly doubled its sales over the last six years since its launch in the U.S., is now the subject of unprecedented consumer interest as Americans look to smaller, more fuel efficient rides to help ease the pain at the gas pump.

The greater interest has already begun to result in increased sales for the coolest small car on the market – for the first five months of 2008, which included the highly successful launch of the MINI Clubman, MINI has experienced a 36% increase in sales compared with the same period a year ago.

â€œMINI has always been proud of its incredible fuel efficiency – we get 37 miles to the gallon, which is as good as most hybrids – and it has certainly been one of the reasons people choose to drive our cars,â€ said Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. â€œWhat weâ€™re finding is that literally hundreds of thousands of people who havenâ€™t thought about a MINI before are checking us out. Weâ€™re thrilled to have them – and hope they join those of us who discovered a long time ago that you can have a hip, cool car thatâ€™s fun to drive – and still save at the pump. The world is becoming more MINI every day.”

This weekend, hundreds of MINI owners and their MINIs will hit the road for some major fun when MINI Takes the States 2008 kicks off in Miami. The MINI tour will hit four cities this summer â€“ Miami, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. In each city, there will be two days of action-packed events and activities, including an autocross, go-kart racing, rock climbing, a fun zone, a mountain bike stunt show, a car wash and more. Rolling Stone magazine, the number one pop culture reference, will also present performances by leading musical acts, including Michelle Branch and Blues Traveler, which are sure to rock the crowd. MINI Takes the States celebrates the spirit of the MINI brand in the U.S., and fosters a sense of community among a growing group of passionate owners and enthusiasts.

Written By: MF Staff

bluzeke

About the only models left on the barren MINI lot here in Baltimore are the one of each type used for test drives. Meanwhile, the neighboring BMW lot is overflowing with stock.
Steve S

I’m sure some of the traffic is also do to the clubman and the JCW variations as well.
C4

Let’s savor the moment…. Small is king of the road once again!
http://blogs.cars.com Dave T.

we just looked into it and searches on cars.com were up nearly 40% in may vs april 08. Remember sales were up 30% in May for the coupe/non clubman!
Jon

Nothing to surprising or shocking here, with the huge increase in sales I think it would be shocking if there wasn’t a large increase in web traffic to match this. I would love to see somebody do a comparison between the sales figures of the top 6 small cars and see exactly how much of a bump Mini is getting for making a small car versus how it stacks up against its competition in sales.
http://blogs.cars.com Dave T.

Jon, Which cars are you referring to? I can look it up for you. But most of the small calls like Yaris, Fit etc all saw large bumps in May. I would say the Cooper is probably the most expensive though.
MINI VANILLI

As good as this sounds to some, and as good as it is for MINI USA in terms of sales, this is not the best news to me. I don’t want MINI to go the way of the CIVIC or GOLF. A whole new group of people are going to buy it not based on looks or drivability or performance but because its good on gas, period. Im almost positive if the MINI gets to common my next car will not be one.
Robert

My dad and I just ordered our minis two weeks agoâ€”mine a Cooper S and his a Clubman. I’ve always thought minis were awesome, but the closest dealership is ~45 miles away, so I tried not to get too attracted to them. The gas prices forced me to reconsider though. I wanted a small, efficient car without sacrificing performance or personality. Minis are really the only cars (in the US at least) where you can have your cake and eat it too. Furthermore, they have extraordinary resale values. So good that it doesn’t really make sense to buy a used one in most cases.
BrewSwapGuy

I can attest to the desire. I just traded in my MINI for a Jeep and they gave me top dollar for it.
paul

It’s highly unlikely that MINI will ever be anywhere near as common as Civics and Golfs. Personally, I can’t understand the need to leave MINI because its popularity grows. Let others enjoy it for its high gas mileage. You can still enjoy yours for what makes it special to you. I wouldn’t try too hard to be driving something different just for the sake of it being different.
BrewSwapGuy

paul, not sure if you were referring to my comments. I still love MINI. I went for the Jeep because it’ll allow me to enjoy off-roading and more hiking since I now have a 4×4 high clearance vehicle.

The wife will probably replace her Passat with a MINI sometime in the next year.
C4

If you have a SUV and said SUV is paid off (Or if you are up to your eye balls on debt paying for it) my advice is… Keep it!

Suck it up. Cheaper than getting a more fuel efficient car and risk losing your shirt on a trade.
GregW

You think you folks in USA have got high fuel prices! In New Zealand our price for 91 octane has risen to NZ$2.12 a liter (x 4.5 = NZ$9.54 a gallon) Exchange rate of NZ$1.00 = US $ 0.76. So currently US$7.16 a gallon.
Mark Smith a.k.a MINIBro77

Where I work at MINI of FFC we are out of everything. We are telling people August for hardtops, February for Convertibles, and Sept./ Oct. for Clubman. The only cars we have remaining on the lot are our test drive demos. We have everything manual and automatic to try out except for the CVT Cooper Convertible and Manual Cooper S Convertible. Otherwise people either are going elsewhere (Other MINI Dealers) to see what is available or just being patient and waiting. It is really sad that it took $4.00 per gallon or higher fuel to make us Americans finally think in the right direction. As much as we are sold out we are still mobbed with business. It’s good to be busy bud the 14 to 15 hour stressful days are wearing thin on me.
Chris B.

This is great news for US to get more MINI models/variants. Cooper D anyone?
http://miniblog.guapacha.com another paul

I’ll fess up that I have recently been thinking of getting rid of my ’05 MCS ‘vert for a Civic Hybrid. Yeah, sacrilege I know, but I do approx 1600 miles a month for work and 40 mpg is a whole lot better than the 27 I get in the MINI. Why a Civic instead of a new MC (that would get 35ish? – I can’t afford the extra $$ for the MC, plus spending $8-10k would wipe out any fuel savings for a long time.

Having said that I think I’ve decide to stick with my MCS until gas gets to $8.
Brian

Mini USA needs to tell the Sales Group to remind new MINI owners that owning a MINI is not like owning a Honda. We are a community and to wave back to other Mini Owners when they get a wave. In the last few weeks I am not getting a wave back or a headlight flash.
C4

Brian, I haven’t gotten a wave in the past 4-5 years. Quite frankly, there are too many MINIs downhere. We are like Civics.

Do I care? Not in the least. Whether I get a wave or not it does not diminish my enjoyment of the car one bit.
Brian

Oh of course and the top on my vabrio has not been up in three weeks. Here in ATL we do get them most of the time
Brian

CABRIO
http://www.chriswoolman.com Chris W.

Given MINI’s recent rankings with JD Power, it’s almost a shame business is so good. What is going to force MINI to address quality concerns?
MINIme

I find this interesting considering that my R53MCS get only around 25 MPG! I think people tend to believe that these cars are miserly when it comes to fuel consumption, but there are many small cars that will run on regular unleaded that get way more MPG than the MINIs.
C4

I am getting 28MPG city driving on my un-modded 2005 R53 S.
Brian

MY R52 (not an S) gets 29.4 to 31.6 per tank. I do all surface street driving.
heyduard

R53 here at 23-24 mpg, calculated. Those with R53′s should not expect stellar mpg. if you do get stellar mpg with the r53, more power to ya! My problem is a short commute (wasn’t when i purchased) and the fun lever is set about 50% and higher. When I purchased the R53, it was not for fuel economy. the R50′s do a fair bit better.

hence the raison d’etre (sp?) for the R56 and the prince engine. BMW knew they could make the mill more efficient; and they had to with the pending Euro reg’s for better CAFE style standards.

So here’s to the justaCoopers, R50 and R56.
GregW

When companies quote fuel usages as detailed in your owners handbook, it is a figure of three types – urban, suburban, overall. Or more plainly City, Country, overall. Even though I have tried to be as economical as I can, I have never been able to achieve these figures.
Jerry

My 1 year old 2007 MCS is averaging 33 MPG for the last 12 months mostly driving the 20 minutes to work and back. I am sure that if I drove more conservatively I could get it up to 35 or 36 MPG.

Jerry
xplode

i can make my ’05 mcs go 35-36 mpg if i -really- adjust my driving. it’s difficult not stay off the fun-pedal though… so i get on average 24mpg. :)

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