MINIUSA Sales Down 8.8% for September
Continuing the trend, MINI USA’s new car sales are down while certified pre-owned sales are up for the month of September.
MINI USA reported 4,024 automobiles sold, a decrease of 8.8 percent from the 4,414 sold in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date, MINI USA reported a total of 38,911 automobiles sold, a decrease of 13.5 percent from 44,974 automobiles sold in the first nine months of 2015.
Now lets look inside those numbers. The first thing that jumps out is how much the US loves its four doors right now. With gas prices still low it’s clear that the US buying public is looking to buy size and utility more than sporty and fun.
The Clubman continued its run at the top of the sales chart narrowly losing to the Countryman for September. While that shouldn’t come as a shock (it’s simply a better car) the idea of a wagon selling as well as a crossover in the US is fairly astounding. Last month it did just that but some those extra units were likely due to an amazing lease deal (just over $100/mo) that MINI USA accidentally offered dealer employees for a couple of days.
Included above is also a look at BMW sales to give you some perspective. While the BMW Group as a whole is a small company (compared to VW, Ford etc) it’s interesting to note that BMW sells more 3 Series than every MINI combined.
The good news was all those CPO sales. MINI Certified Pre-Owned set a record with 925 vehicles, an increase of 2.3 percent from September 2015.
-Total MINI Pre-Owned sales also set a record with 2,234 vehicles in September 2016, an increase of 4.4 percent from September 2015.
-Total MINI Pre-Owned sales year-to-date were 21,303, a 4.7 percent increase from the first nine months of 2015.
<p>I had a 2008 S and I now have a 2011 Countryman S and I might consider trading back to a 2016 S, but the nose is simply too long, the car is no longer proportional. Additionally, the car pulls inappropriately at takeoff, making it feel twitchy and harder than it should be to park (at least with the auto) and one of the loaners I drove, despite only having 1200 miles on it, pulled erratically back and forth, like balancing on the apex of a roof, even at highway speeds.</p>
<p>That has way more to do with the size of the wheels, the height of the sidewall, the fact that they are runflats and the rut in the road than the car itself.</p>
<p>Make all of those variables the same, and most MINIs will behave exactly the same.</p>
<p>“…the US buying public is looking to buy size and utility more than sporty and fun.”</p>
<p>I’d argue they’re looking for both–witness all the sporty and/or high-output variants of SUVs hitting the dealer lots. Problem is, MINI has yet to deliver an updated Countryman, so there’s nothing at MINI showrooms that is as enticing for these shoppers as can be found with other makes.</p>
<p>Similarly, “hot” variants of cars (all the Ford ST and RS models, VW R models, Audi S and RS, Dodge R/T and SRT, etc., etc.,) are selling well. But these vastly outpower MINI models for what is often far less money. The closest “hot hatch” MINI has is two doors, and therefore less practical than an RS, STi, R, etc. from other makes (the Clubman is fine, but it’s not a hatch).</p>
<p>Bottom line… MINI just has the wrong product mix and a poor price/horsepower equation for the US market.</p>
<p>The remarkable thing about these sales figures is that the technically obsolete – and soon to go out of production – R60 Countryman is currently the best selling MINI in the US.</p>
<p>MINI USA Sales – Year to Date 2016</p>
<ol>
<li>R60 Countryman – 10,045</li>
<li>F55 Hardtop 4dr — 8,925</li>
<li>F56 Hardtop 2dr — 8,516</li>
<li>F54 Clubman —– 8,024</li>
<li>F57 Convertible — 3,321 (6 months YTD)</li>
</ol>
<p>BMW, however, considers the Hardtop 2dr/4dr as one of its Superhero models, and combined sales of 17,441 YTD puts it well into the lead. A decision on the fifth Superhero model has been promised by the end of this year.</p>
<p>What is this 5th superhero model you are babbling about?</p>
<p>Hi Jaymes – I will try and keep this as brief as possible.</p>
<p>Back in November 2014, Peter Schwarzenbauer (then BMW board member in charge of MINI) reported that going forward, there would no longer be niche MINI models – such as the Coupe/Roadster and Pacemean – and instead there would be five distinct core models – nicknamed “Superheroes”.</p>
<p>Currently there are four superheroes as follows:
1. F55/56 Hardtop
2. F57 Convertible
3. F54 Clubman
4. F60 Countryman</p>
<p>The fifth MINI superhero model could be any one of the following:
Minor City Car (inspired by the Rocketman concept)
Roadster (inspired by the Superleggera concept)
Traveller MPV (sister car to the 2-Series Gran Tourer)
Sedan 4dr (sister car to the 1-Series Sedan)</p>
<p>The Board is expected to make a decision before the end of this year.</p>
<p>Ah, I see thank you for the response, I was like what the heck is a “Superhero”, I thought you were kidding when you used that word.</p>
<p>Rocketman deserves to exist because there is demand outside the US for small cars, the record-beating MINI sales worldwide are proof of that. Make it electric and with S-level performance!</p>
<p>Superleggera deserves to exist just because of the high critical praise it received, and because it is damn sexy. Less so than Rocketman mostly because it’ll sell as much as the Roadster, so it probably has a lower return on investment for them.</p>
<p>Traveller MPV, does not deserve to exist, 500L-style/2-series Gran Tourer-style cars are usually ugly. Life is too short for ugly cars. Or make it huge like a Ford Flex.</p>
<p>Sedan 4dr could be China-only as people don’t really want those in a MINI elsewhere.</p>
<p>Sportback 5dr doesn’t deserve to exist either, it’ll utimately be a Countryman variant that flops Paceman-style. Or make the Countryman sexier and merge the two into one.</p>