Official MINI USA press release: MINI USA reported August sales of 4,077 automobiles, up 25.4 percent from the 3,252 cars sold in August 2006. Year-to-date, the division reports sales of 27,905 automobiles, an increase of 4.1 percent, compared to the 26,806 cars reported in the first eight months of 2006.
For those interested in the August sales for the entire BMW Group, here’s the full release:
>The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reports strong August sales of 30,639 vehicles, an increase of 19.3 percent over the 25,673 vehicles sold in August 2006. The BMW Group also increased its year-to-date sales volume to 223,341 vehicles, up 8.1 percent, compared to 206,530 vehicles in the same period of 2006.
>BMW Brand Sales
>Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 18.5 percent in August for a total of 26,562 compared to 22,421 reported in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date BMW brand sales are up 8.7 percent, to 195,436 vehicles compared to 179,724 vehicles sold in the same period in 2006.
>BMW Automobile Sales
>BMW’s automobile sales are up 22.1 percent in August to 20,825 versus 17,053 in the same month a year ago. Year-to-date sales also increased 9.3 percent, to 153,304 automobiles compared to 140,250 in the same period of 2006.
>BMW Sports Activity Vehicle Sales
>Sales of BMW Sports Activity Vehicles increased by 6.9 percent in August to 5,737 vehicles over the 5,368 sold last August. Year-to-date, sales of BMW Sports Activity Vehicles are up 6.7 percent, to 42,132 vehicles compared to the 39,474 sold in the first eight months of 2006.
>MINI Brand Sales
>MINI USA reported August sales of 4,077 automobiles, up 25.4 percent from the 3,252 cars sold in August 2006. Year-to-date, the division reports sales of 27,905 automobiles, an increase of 4.1 percent, compared to the 26,806 cars reported in the first eight months of 2006.
>BMW Certified Pre-Owned
>Sales of BMW’s Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are up 11.2 percent, and the company reports its best August ever with sales of 7,462 CPO vehicles versus 6,713 vehicles reported last August. Year-to-date, CPO sales are down 1.9 percent, to 57,024 over the 58,129 reported in the same period in 2006.
<a href="http://www.gbmini.net/wp/mini_sales/" rel="nofollow">MINI sales figures updated</a>
Interesting that for August, they sold (just) more R56 Coopers than Cooper S. One month is too short to say, but are people choosing the more economical car maybe?
All those naysayers who predicted fewer sales in March, were sadly mistaken. MINI’s problem is going to be lack of capacity as the Clubman comes on stream closely followed by the convertible.
Take out R52 convertible sales from the picture and you’ll see that the R56, while selling well, is not braking any records in comparison to the previous tintop.
Do the math.
>Take out R52 convertible sales from the picture and you’ll see that the R56, while selling well, is not braking any records in comparison to the previous tintop. Do the math.
The math:
<b>08/07: 3207</b>
08/06: 2351
08/05: 2612
08/04: 2334
08/03: 2811
08/02: 3189
All other arguments aside (and I’m sure you can come up with some Frank – I’d be disappointed if you didn’t) this was the best August ever for the coupe.
Yes because discounts, 90 day no payments deals that my dealer was offering until 8/31 and other incentives (Including subsidized sub $300 per month lease deals) have indeed help move out the metal…
And chalk that up to increased factory capacity/production, MINI is building every MINI they can put together, more so than ever before…
I am sure you will come up with “convincing” arguments against these claims as something from a figment of my imagination…
Here in the capital of automotive bling, the R50/53 still dominate the MINI scene and R56s are far and few in between, despite the fact that I can get up from my comfortable W.Schillig sofa, drive to my nearest MINI store and induldge myself in a sea of unsold R56 inventory with every option and color in the sales catalog.
I agree Mr. Gabe, the R56 is selling but the question remains, has it surpassed BMWs expectations and what those expectations were? I am afraid the marketing department will never disclose that closely guarded info.
When did we start reviewing sofas? Don’t make me pull-out my Roche Bobois.
Roche Bobois? Not bad at all, but I still prefer the teutonic design of German sofas like W.Schillig and Rolf Benz…
When you remove the verts… the sales are not impressive. From a marketing perspective, surely BMW can’t be pleased with the new “camry” in their line up…
>Yes because discounts, 90 day no payments deals that my dealer was offering until 8/31 and other incentives (Including subsidized sub $300 per month lease deals) have indeed help move out the metal…
So you are saying that one dealer single handedly brought up the R56 sales because of discounts and incentives?
Every time I visit a dealer here in CA if there are any R56’s on the lot, they aren’t the same cars that were there on my last visit. However, the R50’s and R53’s are moving pretty slow (as is evident by the numbers Ian has compiled).
R50 and R53 have been out of production for 10 months. Your comparison really makes no sense at all. Many people are not even aware that there are still unsold R53 inventory.
The car is selling well and more so with added incenctives. Please remind me about a time during the R53 era when I could get:
1) 90 day no payments on any new MINI in stock
2) Subsidized sub $300 per month BMWFNA lease deals
3) Discounts off MSRP (Whether it is $500 or $1,500)
4) Abundance of MINIs in dealer stock in every color/combination possible.
One thing is to love MINIs and quite another turn a blind eye to what really is happening out there.
There were dealers offering incentives on new MINIs as far back as ’05 that I heard about. Not very many, and if I had to guess, they were probably low volume dealers anyway (possibly less than 40 cars a month).
There are 8 or 9 dealers here in California. Not a single one of them is offering any incentives on MINIs and in fact there are at least 2 of them that are still getting at least $1500 over MSRP.
But you are right, an increase to LY of only 856 cars isn’t smoking-hot-record breaking, but I really don’t think you can give full credit to dealers that are offering incentives.
An increase is an increase no matter how you slice it. Like or not, more R56s were sold last month than in previous years, and the math backs it up.
Let’s look at the real bottom line here. During the R53 era… zero discounts, and every MINI selling as quick as they unloaded them off the ship. This was for the entire run! Now we are 6 months into the R56 era.. and they are slashing MSRP and offering other incentives. Even with the incentives, R56’s sit on dealers lots. You are blinding yourself to reality if you don’t recognize that the demand for the R56 is no where close to the frenzy of the R53 era. Are they selling more? Sure.. they are making more also. Is the demand anywhere close to the R53 era? No way… the R56 has lost the magic that was the R53… discounts / incentives / and dealer lots full of R56’s bear this out.
>During the R53 era… zero discounts, and every MINI selling as quick as they unloaded them off the ship. This was for the entire run! Now we are 6 months into the R56 era.. and they are slashing MSRP and offering other incentives. Even with the incentives, R56’s sit on dealers lots.
First off I totally agree that US dealers have more cars on the lots than the past. I think you’re being a little dramatic about the number but yes, there’s more than 2002 (when there was like 5-6 at a time). Sales are great but they are also producing more. Certainly a double edge sword and one worth talking about. However one thing that I disagree with is incentives for the R53. In the midwest incentives started on both models in the winter of 2003 and went into full action in the winter of 2004. Dealers did have to work to sell the previous car.
>Sure.. they are making more also. Is the demand anywhere close to the R53 era?
Based on numbers you’d have to say it’s close but we’ll never know for sure. Is it like 2002 when every car that came in sold? No. Why not? Lots of reasons but the primary ones that MAs and sales managers seem to believe is the launch of the brand and the launch of the first small car in the US that truly was a premium product led to a rush of sales and interest across the nation. This had little to do with the attributes that you and I love about the R50/R53 and more about the things we could care less about.
>the R56 has lost the magic that was the R53… discounts / incentives / and dealer lots full of R56’s bear this out.
Obviously this is a personal thing and I can totally respect someone who loves the previous car and hates the new one due to the small changes. I would personally disagree but I understand there’s a purity with the previous car that MINI will probably never get back to.