MINI USA July Sales: The F56 Picks up Steam
The F56 is now officially killing it in terms of sales year over year in the all important US market. For months we’ve been waiting for a sales month that saw a full availability of the F56 at dealers. And while lots are still a little thinner than some would like, there’s clearly enough availability to sell more hardtops than last year. And that’s without the massive incentives that we saw throughout the R56’s model runout. However not all is well in the MINI range.
Click through for the full sales picture.
While the F56 is doing well, the R5X models have all fallen off the sales cliff. The Clubman is down almost 50% with the Coupe and Roadster down 62% and 37% respectively. Furthermore the Paceman is also struggling to catch-on with yet another less than stellar month.
All told the numbers remain rather flat compared to last year. For July, MINI USA sold a total 5,811 automobiles, a decrease of 2.3 percent from the 5,950 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a sales total of 29,963 automobiles, a decrease of 21.8 percent from the 38,306 automobiles sold in the first seven months of 2013.
<p>So, my Coupe could be a real collector’s item before long</p>
<p>300 more than last month is definitely good, but “now officially killing it”? That seems a bit much.</p>
<p>I know year-over-year is how these things are tracked, not month-to-month… but let’s not forget that July 2013 was also the final full month you could order a new R56. New model’s excitement vs old model’s final days doesn’t really lend itself to “now officially killing it” declarations.</p>
<p>This post (and a few previous ones) hand-waves away this sort of criticism by making vague reference to large incentives on the R56 last year. It would be interesting to see some hard numbers to substantiate that. Say, sales in June/July 2013 vs June/July 2012 or similar. I’ve looked through the posting history on this site, but don’t see any sales data news from that earlier time frame.</p>
<p>Hmm… looks like sales of the R56 hardtop were down 12% in July 2013, relative to July 2012. July’s F56 sales are only up about 6% on that 2012 mark; not a huge increase for a 2-year window (and certainly more restrained than the 21% cited in this article).
<a href="https://www.motoringfile.com/2013/08/01/mini-usa-posts-best-july-sales-ever/" rel="ugc">https://www.motoringfile.com/2013/08/01/mini-usa-posts-best-july-sales-ever/</a></p>
<p>In fact, it looks like the -only- month in the first half of 2013 that saw an increase in hardtop sales was January.
<a href="http://s3.motoringfile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mini-sales-june2013.png" rel="nofollow ugc">http://s3.motoringfile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mini-sales-june2013.png</a></p>
<p>Modest as it may be, the F56’s July sales is still an improvement over 2012; still good to see. But can we put a fork in this “massive incentives driving big hardtop sales last year” notion now?</p>
<p>Idk what dealership MF went to, but they weren’t giving any discounts on R56’s.</p>
<p>the editors of this website frequently pull facts our of their a$$ to protect the brand of mini</p>
<p>You call one month of sales in positive territory, with the benefit of disappearing Clubman inventory, “killing it?” Really?</p>
<p>Well, Clubman sales don’t really factor in when talking about the F56 “killing it”.</p>
<p>How so? It’s not hard to imagine an F56 buyer who would have been swayed by an R55…if there had been more than the dregs on the lot.</p>
<p>I think I mis-read your initial post. I thought you were saying that clubman sales being down so much was an argument against MINI “killing it” (which wasn’t the same context, as “killing it” was said in limited reference to the F56), but I see now what you meant.</p>
<p>Well, this is going to go south with the fact that those of us who have 2015 F56 on order and arriving to the US shores this month (and last) will not be able to have our cars delivered.</p>
<p>Mini needs to step forward with some official statement, and contact those us who are affected with how they intend to make this right.</p>
<p>It’s coming</p>
<p>Dealers just found out about the EPA delay in the last couple days. while MINI probably will do something to help the sting, it isn’t MINI’s fault.</p>
<p>MINI has reached out to me and a few others that I know of so far. They are just getting rolling with contacting people. I found out on my expected delivery date that my car wasn’t coming until October, but I am satisfied with my communication with MINI. I’m actually impressed with how responsive they are trying to be given the massive task ahead of them.</p>
<p>I have indeed been in touch with Mini, and they have been superb in working with me on a proper and perfect resolution.</p>
<p>I predict that next year will see both the F56 & upcoming F55 4 door as showing strong sales with the refreshed Countryman in 3rd spot. Quite possible the F55 could end up being the sales leader by the end of 2015. Just my subjective prediction!</p>
<p>It’s possible that the F55 & the release of the all new F54 Clubman next spring could take some sales away from the Countryman. As for the rest of the remainder R series awaiting their next generation, I expect some like the Coupe & Roadster may not even see a 2nd generation unless they’re combined Into to a single retractable hardtop coupe model or something to that effect. Re the future of the Paceman, I doubt it will last much longer beyond its 2015 refresh.</p>
<p>Models like the Coupe, Roadster, & Paceman that just can’t sell more than 150 units per month (less than 100 for the Coupe) just can’t be continued as viable models at those terrible sales figures. Finally, I believe the convertible will continue as a nitch model just strong enough to be part of the lineup.</p>
<p>Just one more thing…that comparison pic used in this post doesn’t do the F56 any favors. Talk about accentuating its least desirable attribute (i.e., that proboscis…)</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with that front-end</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call that killing it. The 2013MY was the last year after a 7-year run. Not too impressive to only sell 600 more. That just means more preorders were actually delivered.</p>
<p>That pic looks like the F56 just got caught with a brownie sticking out of its mouth. Pretty terrible looking IMO.</p>
<p>Wow, that pic makes me love the R56 even more. Sigh, what have you done MINI? I feel if consumers had both cars lined up next to each other, they would realise how ugly the F56 is in comparison. Oh well, can’t go back now…</p>
<p>Too bad the delay for 2015 models isn’t because MINI realized WTF they had done to this brand by releasing such a dull, polar opposite, ugly duckling and made an emergency restart of R56 production until they could sort out something — Anything — better than the F56.</p>
<p>Anyone that understands photography knows that the above photo is shot with a wide angle lens (probably around 18) and it’s making the F56 hood look longer than it would seeing it with the human eye.</p>
<p>If you don’t believe me then be on the outside of a big group photo shot with a wide angle lens, it’s not very flattering to your features.</p>
<p>I think we all understand that. The question is why would you take that wide angle shot so as to make the F56 nose look longer than it actually is? Just a simple swap of the position of the two vehicles and the F56 would have looked a thousand percent better (well, maybe fifty percent…)</p>
<p>Enough with the excuses.</p>
<p>“Honey, does this dress make me look fat?”</p>
<p>“Woman, it ain’t the dress!”</p>
<p>“The Clubman is down almost 50%…”
I thought production had stopped for the Clubman. Why make a statement that sounds like sales dropped in that case?</p>
<p>The final production is reaching US dealers now which means there wasn’t a huge impact on sales.</p>
<p>keep deleting my comments you fat fuck</p>
<p>No excuses at all, it’s all in what you like. I think the R56 and F56 look like proper sports cars, they have a stance and aggressive look to them that really appeals to me. I never cared for the R50/53, it just looks like a little commuter car to me. The R50/53 is closer in look, feel, and capability to a Fiat 500. Which I also don’t care for. A small car is nice, a small SPORTS car is great. If you park a Fiat 500 next to a MINI F56, the Fiat 500 looks weak. Just my opinion.</p>