MINI USA Press Release: MINI USA reported November sales of 3,177 automobiles, down 3.3 percent from the 3,287 cars sold in November 2006. Year-to-date, the division reported sales of 38,483 automobiles, an increase of 4.9 percent, compared to the 36,699 cars reported through November of 2006.
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This sales decrease may be a sign of the overall economic slow-down in the U.S. and dare I say it, coming recession.
I second that ….
FWIW Autoblog reports that with sales day adjusted numbers (number of business days in the month) sales increased 3.3% for Nov.
Last november the new model was available, which would spurn new sales. This year, they are selling 07’s until January. Also on the horizon is the Clubman, which some will postpone purchasing the R56 until they see it. I would have been more suprised if sales hadn’t decreased.
some nutcase is going to come along and say it’s because the r56 is retarded and nobody wants them.
Yeah, I work at MINI dealership in Toronto, Canada and I’ve definitely seen the slow-down here too. Doesn’t look too promising for December either. We’re lucky if we get a customer all day. I guess everyone is too busy buying Christmas presents… But who wouldn’t want a MINI hiding under the Christmas tree? It would fit 😉
Well last year the model year closeout didn’t go that well either. 2007s weren’t recieved until Feb/07 and now the 08s won’t be on the ground till Jan. Since dealers only have 07s (except convts), I am confused as to why a manufacture would only show 08s on their web site. The clubman is going to be the shizzle. 🙂
Yeah, a lot of people are excited about the Clubman! They can’t wait to sit in it and try it out and I think that that anticipation and waiting is hurting sales this month too.
“This sales decrease may be a sign of the overall economic slow-down in the U.S. and dare I say it, coming recession”
Are you getting you “news” from the NYT?
According to Marketwatch, the 3rd quarter GDP was revised to 4.9%, the fastest expansion of the economy in four years, and 24th consecutive quarter of Expansion.
ZMan, if you had read the NYT you’d see they had that story too.
It is a good thing the SAV is coming along to SAVe the day!
OK… I will say it. The R56 is tanking. Come on folks… sales are down against the R53 in Novemeber 2006? Geez.. that was the last month for the R53.. and a the factory only ran R53 production for 2 weeks in November. On top of that, everyone knew the R56 was just around the corner… so it was near the slowest month for R53 sales ever. It is obvious what the problem is here… just use your eyes! The R56 has jumped the shark 10 months into production… facts is facts.
“FWIW Autoblog reports that with sales day adjusted numbers (number of business days in the month) sales increased 3.3% for Nov.”
yeah, because people only buy cars between 9-5 M-F.
“some nutcase is going to come along and say it’s because the r56 is retarded and nobody wants them.”
there might be some truth to that. with a perceived (not real) recession and gas at $3/gal, you’d think the R56 with direct injection and MUCH better gas mileage than the R53 would attract new customers. Perhaps the brand has matured and the ‘one trick pony’ needs to broaden it’s appeal. Doing so without diluting the hard-fought brand identity is the trick.
“Yeah, a lot of people are excited about the Clubman!”
“The clubman is going to be the shizzle.”
I could use more space in my car. The Clubman isn’t the answer, for me, especially if one considers the (lack of) value MINI offers. Even a tarted up JCW Stage II Clubman (if there will be such a thing) can’t hang with the competition in the power department. Other cars come stock with more power than the proposed improvements. Makes a 335xi seem like a better choice than a Clubman
As we are still comparing the transition phase between the R53/R56 I take the upturns and downturns as not being a significant sign of anything. Also have to remember one thing, comparing the sales from a model at the end of its life and a model in the beginning of its life should bounce somewhat.
Doom sayers I say wait if we see 4 months of downturns we could probably gather some views but damning a 3% drop or boasting a 3% increase from one month is kinda silly in my book.
Christina you spot-on with saying a Mini under the tree would be a hit at least in my book heh. Heck, it could be parked on the tree and I wouldn’t mind.
Well we are down YTY 2 months in a row… a first for MINI. Anybody that doesn’t thing the BMW bean counters aren’t crapping kittens has got their head in the sand…
I knew the nuts would join in =)
really, the 07’s had at least 5 months in a row with over 4000 sold..
during the 02-06 years there were only two months total with those kind of figures.
the 07’s haven’t had the advantage of being a new car to market either. They are in a market that is fairly saturated with MINIs now.
The graph in this pic shows and tells all:
<a href="http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1091/minisalesgraphnj3.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1091/minisalesgraphnj3.jpg</a>
can’t argue with that.
What would be interesting to note is
1) What is the average on lot time, or inventory on hand, and
2)What’s the production vs capacity for the factoryvs time?
Here in the SF Bay Area, we’re getting radio adds for the Mini for the first time in a long while. We can debate ad nausium about why and what, but it’s true that marketing efforts have stepped up, it’s true that (at least here) the sales premiums have gone away, and it’s true that there have been some promotions that didn’t happen before (Like the october whatever it was).
It’s also true that there’s more competition for the car dollars in it’s size market.
It’s also true that for power junkies, Mini is standing still, while others are moving towards higher numbers (not that I think it’s nessesary, but it’s still a fact).
Only time will tell if it’s noise or a trend….
Matt
This is the beauty of these statistics – we can interpret them however we want to support our opinions. I like to think that less people like the R56. I also agree with Matt above in that we won’t really know until all is said and done.
Maybe making the Mini feel like other cars on the market was a bad idea, after all. For Mini’s sake, I hope they double the sales of the R53.
All I can go on is my experience, and when I bought my R53 is was after driving an RSX-S and the GTI. Not sure I’d make the same decision with the R56, and it seems people might be thinking similarly.
Who really knows? It is a fun discussion though.
mb