Official Release: In February sales of the MINI brand were 27.2% lower than the same month last year (15,919 units) at 11,583 units. For the year to the end of February, 21,702 vehicles were sold (prev.yr.: 31,376 / -30.8%). From late March on, the new MINI Convertible will rejoin the model range and give sales a substantial boost over the course of the year. New orders for the new open-topped MINI version already look very promising.
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<p>Is this the result of the recession or no convertible model? My guess is both. You surely can’t blame the 27% loss on convertible alone. Have dealers got orders and deposits on Convertibles to make up for the loss?
Are sales new owners buying or are they coming from previous owners upgrading to new models?</p>
<p>I see my purchase this month was not enough to push us into positive territory</p>
<p>keep in mind that February 2008 was when the Clubman was launched, and there were a lot of “launch cars” that were reported last February as well as a bunch of pre-orders that arrived and were delivered that last week. That and the lack of a convertible this year account for a portion of the drop, but I do think that the overall economic environment did hurt sales a bit too.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that this is worldwide sale figures not just the US.</p>
<p>US sales were down by only 17.2% in February, and 16.5% for the year overall. Comapred to 27.2%(Feb) and 30.8%(ytd) worldwide.</p>
<p>It would be naive to say that the Recession has NOT affected overall sales…Now that being said I do think that sales will see an increase come the spring time…it is not all doom and gloom out there…unless you are GM</p>
<p>Ouch!</p>
<p>don’t worry! MINI is stocked with geniuses to fix the problem, and the first solution is coming soon! The R60 will improve sales and bring them back in the red… because you know, everyone wants the R60… esp in this economic climate…</p>