Are VW’s Diesel Sales in the US Making MINI Re-Think Their Diesel Plans?
We know that MINI USA is very interested in getting diesels in the US market. The roadblock has always been cost. Now that roadblock may be slowly eroding away. Recently we reported that MINI’s US diesel plans are back on the table. Based on sources this is due to several reasons. For one the lowering cost of diesel fuel has helped tremendously. Secondly the sharing of BMW’s 2.0L diesel engine (currently powering the 1 and 3 series outside the US) that is destined for the updated R55 and R56 platform could help the cause as well. If BMW federalizes the engine for use in 1 and 3 series in the US (not that unlikely since the passing of the EPA’s new efficiency mandate), MINI’s costs for using the power-plant go down considerably.
Now comes potentially another reason for MINI USA to push the diesel option. VW is reporting that over 36% of all Jetta (Bora outside the US) sales in May were diesel. That’s almost 4,000 diesel cars sold in one month alone. Not impressive in Europe but quite eye-opening for the US market.
<p>For several reasons I have been hesitant to replace my 06 Cooper with an R56. A 2.0L Diesel MINI would be the push I need. Loads of torque and great fuel efficiency would be perfect for the kind of driving I do (mostly city). DO IT MINI!!! And do it ASAP!!!</p>
<p>I would replace my 05 MCS with a Mini D for sure. I am one of those who just bought a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI manual to replace our older Volvo wagon. The car is superb, fun to drive, and gets 15 mpg better than the Mini S on the highway and 10 mpg better in urban driving.</p>
<p>Just got my wife a Clubman. I’d love to get another MINI for me but I’d really like a Clubman D and am willing to wait. As soon as they can offer the MINI D in the US market they can count me as another sale.</p>
<p>We’re going to be getting a new car by the end of this year and the Jetta TDI sedan or sportwagen are definitely the #1 and #2 options on the list. If BMW marketed their 3 series diesel in the US with a manual transmission, that would be on the list too, but it’s an automatic and if I’m settling for an automatic, I’d save the $$$ and get a Prius.</p>
<p>We test drove the Jetta TDI, but thanks to generous (and unheard of) rebates on the 3-series last month, we picked up a BMW 335d. Both get great fuel economy numbers, but the BMW is a rocket! On only the third tank of fuel, did a Long Island to NJ run last night: 80 miles, 55 mph average, 39.2 mpg…and most of that run was on highways well over the posted speed limit. Should be good for higher mpg on longer highway runs at speeds closer to the posted limits. Mixed driving thus far has returned results of 32-34 mpg. Certainly hope MINI follows up with the BMW diesel offering – should be a blast to drive while averaging near 50 mpg!</p>
<p>People who’ve asked about the car don’t believe it’s a diesel – there is absolutely no diesel smell whatsoever. My neighbor stuck his face in the tailpipe while it was running – couldn’t believe it!</p>
<p>I’d be willing to replace my 05 MCSC with a diesel cabrio. Autoblog just had an article indicating that the VW BlueSport may be headed to production in 2013. If MINI can’t get their diesels to the states, a VW may be in my future.</p>
<p>If the ~200hp/300lb ft of torque BMW 2.0 diesel isn’t significantly heavier than the gas motor, it would make for a fantastic little car. I’d buy one tomorrow if it was available. 50+ mpg would just be a bonus.</p>
<p>With sagging US sales and a gradual escalating petrol price,this would be an opportunistic moment for BMW to regain lost market share and reclaim its title as the subcompact premuim standard by introducing the 2.0 L deisel in the MINI Clubman. Offering it in the AWD version would increase the mileage offset by the AWD engineering. Just a thought BMW why the hestitation??</p>
<p>It seems to me that BMW’s not yet convinced about the direction of the US market as their entry into Diesel here is with the overpowered 335d (that they won’t sell the manual transmission version in the US). They continue to believe in a US market model where all we want is huge powered sedans, mostly with automatic transmission. Meanwhile, the 1-series diesels, 1-series hatch/wagon, and 3-series diesels (all with manual transmissions) have been on the roads in the rest of the world for years. Again, I’d love to buy the 320d but BMW doesn’t seem to understand that there is a potential market for it here in the US. My worry is that they will only bring a diesel MINI to the US if it’s powered like an S, forgetting that many many MINI owners in the US are plenty happy without the S-like powertrain. The US market is changing, but like many car companies, I’m not sure they believe that the changes are actually a trend and not just a fad.</p>
<p>With the way most people are leveraged here in the US, soon they won’t be able to afford the gas. They better start marketing this car now before they miss the boat. There are always more less expensive Japanese cars out there. Why should I buy a more expensive MINI, someone should be telling me…its been ages since I’ve seen a MINI commercial. Someone’s asleep in the Marketing Department.</p>
<p>@<a href="#comment-261319" rel="nofollow">Aaron</a>: actually you may be surprised that parts of BMW and MINI really do get it. For starters BMW doesn’t offer the 335d anywhere in the world with a a manual because they don’t have one that can cope with the torque.</p>
<p>Had they made the decision to bring diesel to the US this spring they probably would have opted for the 2.0L diesel. But the original choice was made back in 2004… Quite a different climate if you remember. But now they have a chance to make the right decision and bring the 2.0L here for both companies. Well see if it happens.</p>
<p>Btw read BimmerFile’s 335d review as there’s as few more insights into the whole situation.</p>
<p>Before I bought my 09 MCCS, I looked closely at the new Jetta TDI SportsWagen. Unfortunately, VW chose to de-content its US offerings. The TDI has no options for: Power seats, auto climate control, rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights, bi-xenon headlights, comfort access key, leather seating surfaces, Homelink, auto-dimming rear view & side mirrors, compass, etc. All these items used to be available in the US and are currently available in Golf variants around the world.</p>
<p>Most of these options are available on the MINI (except a compass in the rear view mirror – what’s up with that?)</p>
<p>I’d love to drive the 2.0L dual-turbo diesel engine currently only in the 123d. And of course, I’d like the 5-door 1-Series, not sold here because BMW doesn’t think it will sell. BMW should federalize at least the 2.0L diesel and the 2.0L dual-turbo engine. MINI and the BMW 1-Series could use the 2.0L version while the 3 could be very fun in the form of a 323d.</p>
<p>In either case, you’d get much better fuel economy than the fantastic, but pricey, 335d.</p>
<p>MINI – Bring it the 2.0L Diesel MINI now! Get them in people’s hands and let the same magic that happened with the introduction of the new MINI to happen all over again. Build it and they will come.</p>
<p>Thanks for the updates Gabe. Keep the pressure on them.</p>
<p>If they decided tomorrow, for argument sake, that they wanted to bring a MINI D to the US. How long from the point of making that decision until all regulatory, political, corporate, etc issues would actually allow the car to touch soil here?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, Gabe, and the updates (and the 335d review on Bimmerfile). I am glad to hear that BMW/MINI does indeed get it. But they’re sitting on the 318’s, 320’s, 323’s in other markets and I’m just wondering how hard would it be for them to just make the decision to market those models in the US, increase production and ship them over here? Gas prices are going up again and here in California, 91 octane is yet again about a half dollar more than diesel per gallon. The faster they move on this, the better…they need to take the leap.</p>
<p>What is the weight difference between the 1.6L Turbo and the 2.0L Diesel? That may make the most handling difference. If the diesel were priced between the Cooper and the Cooper S, there’d be a sale. Although, I’m thinking about a Crossover S w/diesel and AWD…</p>
<p>Fuel mileage-wise, my dad has an ’09 MC and I have an ’04 MC. He goes about 500miles on a single tank, I get into the mid-high 300 range. Now mind you I love my R50, but that simple engine update is incredible. Imagine a MINI D with another 8-10mpg, you’d rarely fill-up!</p>
<p>I’d also give anything to be able to have a 4-door 1er priced below the coupe w/a turbo four or at least the 5-door. Just so BMW/MINI know.</p>
<p>Here we go AGAIN!!! BMW/Mini as dumb and dumbmer. It is a fact that I believe that most of Mini owners as myself (95%) of us are awaiting this creature from the other side of the lagoon to EVER show up, DR61 I am very happy for you. As a matter of fact the new VW Golf Diesel is shortly to arrive to this different world as of Oct this year. Mileage is expected at 49 Mpg Hwy and somewhat 37 Mpg City. So BMW/Mini better get their act together and by the way will be priced a lot lower than Mini. I believe the handling will be the same guys, stop asking those questions, if you feel it wont then MODIFY the car with a better suspension(get it!!) My R53 has 111K and this last week I was averaging over 30 mpg at speeds of 65 mph(yes, I cant believe it myself I did another long run in our atrocious highways here in Puerto Rico and got the same mileage again!!) Well, seems to me that the GOLF might be the car for me, I will wait till next summer(when my bankruptcy goes over) to buy either the GOLF or if Mini decides to come over with 2.0 liter</p>
<p>Will BMW/MINI ever do the right thing and finally bring their 4-cyl diesels to the US?</p>
<p>It’s just amazing that they don’t. Clean diesel finally gets figured out and they still don’t have the cars here!</p>
<p>VW/Audi will OWN the diesel market soon if BMW doesn’t get its act together. The Golf TDI is coming very soon and next year we’ll have the newly revised Jetta TDI.</p>
<p>VW itself bungles the situation in the States by de-contenting its cars. That leaves a perfect opportunity for BMW/MINI to come in with their usual well equipped cars and long options list.</p>
<p>I don’t see this happening anytime soon. BMW clearly dropped the ball with the MINI D offering in the United States. Dealers and customers have been clamoring for this car and all they get from Munich headquarters is nothing but excuses and more excuses.</p>
<p>Face it, the #1 world market for the MINI (The US) is still treated like a third grade citizen by the corporate honchos!</p>
<p>Hi, I live in Portugal and à own a Mini Cooper Diesel (110 hp )and driving on highway according to the legal speed limit ( 75 mph ) i get a 70 mpg average !</p>
<p>The ecological data, you can get from the internet and be surprised…</p>
<p>If it comes to the USA…for the LOVE OF GOD!
MINI Canada better follow suit…
At least in the form of the Clubman.</p>
<p>if i can’t find the money for the entire car, at least i’ll be able to source the hood!</p>
<p>For several reasons I have been hesitant to replace my 06 Cooper with an R56. A 2.0L Diesel MINI would be the push I need. Loads of torque and great fuel efficiency would be perfect for the kind of driving I do (mostly city). DO IT MINI!!! And do it ASAP!!!</p>
<p>I would replace my 05 MCS with a Mini D for sure. I am one of those who just bought a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI manual to replace our older Volvo wagon. The car is superb, fun to drive, and gets 15 mpg better than the Mini S on the highway and 10 mpg better in urban driving.</p>
<p>still will be interesting to see how different backroads sport driving will feel in the MINI D.</p>
<p>Hopeful but not holding my breath again!</p>
<p>Just got my wife a Clubman. I’d love to get another MINI for me but I’d really like a Clubman D and am willing to wait. As soon as they can offer the MINI D in the US market they can count me as another sale.</p>
<p>We’re going to be getting a new car by the end of this year and the Jetta TDI sedan or sportwagen are definitely the #1 and #2 options on the list. If BMW marketed their 3 series diesel in the US with a manual transmission, that would be on the list too, but it’s an automatic and if I’m settling for an automatic, I’d save the $$$ and get a Prius.</p>
<p>We test drove the Jetta TDI, but thanks to generous (and unheard of) rebates on the 3-series last month, we picked up a BMW 335d. Both get great fuel economy numbers, but the BMW is a rocket! On only the third tank of fuel, did a Long Island to NJ run last night: 80 miles, 55 mph average, 39.2 mpg…and most of that run was on highways well over the posted speed limit. Should be good for higher mpg on longer highway runs at speeds closer to the posted limits. Mixed driving thus far has returned results of 32-34 mpg. Certainly hope MINI follows up with the BMW diesel offering – should be a blast to drive while averaging near 50 mpg!</p>
<p>People who’ve asked about the car don’t believe it’s a diesel – there is absolutely no diesel smell whatsoever. My neighbor stuck his face in the tailpipe while it was running – couldn’t believe it!</p>
<p>I’d be willing to replace my 05 MCSC with a diesel cabrio. Autoblog just had an article indicating that the VW BlueSport may be headed to production in 2013. If MINI can’t get their diesels to the states, a VW may be in my future.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was thinking our next car purchase would be a VW TDI. I would love to get a mini D.</p>
<p>I’d seel my ’08 MCSC and get a D. I love diesel power and fuel economy.</p>
<p>If the ~200hp/300lb ft of torque BMW 2.0 diesel isn’t significantly heavier than the gas motor, it would make for a fantastic little car. I’d buy one tomorrow if it was available. 50+ mpg would just be a bonus.</p>
<p>With sagging US sales and a gradual escalating petrol price,this would be an opportunistic moment for BMW to regain lost market share and reclaim its title as the subcompact premuim standard by introducing the 2.0 L deisel in the MINI Clubman. Offering it in the AWD version would increase the mileage offset by the AWD engineering. Just a thought BMW why the hestitation??</p>
<p>It seems to me that BMW’s not yet convinced about the direction of the US market as their entry into Diesel here is with the overpowered 335d (that they won’t sell the manual transmission version in the US). They continue to believe in a US market model where all we want is huge powered sedans, mostly with automatic transmission. Meanwhile, the 1-series diesels, 1-series hatch/wagon, and 3-series diesels (all with manual transmissions) have been on the roads in the rest of the world for years. Again, I’d love to buy the 320d but BMW doesn’t seem to understand that there is a potential market for it here in the US. My worry is that they will only bring a diesel MINI to the US if it’s powered like an S, forgetting that many many MINI owners in the US are plenty happy without the S-like powertrain. The US market is changing, but like many car companies, I’m not sure they believe that the changes are actually a trend and not just a fad.</p>
<p>With the way most people are leveraged here in the US, soon they won’t be able to afford the gas. They better start marketing this car now before they miss the boat. There are always more less expensive Japanese cars out there. Why should I buy a more expensive MINI, someone should be telling me…its been ages since I’ve seen a MINI commercial. Someone’s asleep in the Marketing Department.</p>
<p>@<a href="#comment-261319" rel="nofollow">Aaron</a>: actually you may be surprised that parts of BMW and MINI really do get it. For starters BMW doesn’t offer the 335d anywhere in the world with a a manual because they don’t have one that can cope with the torque.</p>
<p>Had they made the decision to bring diesel to the US this spring they probably would have opted for the 2.0L diesel. But the original choice was made back in 2004… Quite a different climate if you remember. But now they have a chance to make the right decision and bring the 2.0L here for both companies. Well see if it happens.</p>
<p>Btw read BimmerFile’s 335d review as there’s as few more insights into the whole situation.</p>
<p>Before I bought my 09 MCCS, I looked closely at the new Jetta TDI SportsWagen. Unfortunately, VW chose to de-content its US offerings. The TDI has no options for: Power seats, auto climate control, rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights, bi-xenon headlights, comfort access key, leather seating surfaces, Homelink, auto-dimming rear view & side mirrors, compass, etc. All these items used to be available in the US and are currently available in Golf variants around the world.</p>
<p>Most of these options are available on the MINI (except a compass in the rear view mirror – what’s up with that?)</p>
<p>I’d love to drive the 2.0L dual-turbo diesel engine currently only in the 123d. And of course, I’d like the 5-door 1-Series, not sold here because BMW doesn’t think it will sell. BMW should federalize at least the 2.0L diesel and the 2.0L dual-turbo engine. MINI and the BMW 1-Series could use the 2.0L version while the 3 could be very fun in the form of a 323d.</p>
<p>In either case, you’d get much better fuel economy than the fantastic, but pricey, 335d.</p>
<p>MINI – Bring it the 2.0L Diesel MINI now! Get them in people’s hands and let the same magic that happened with the introduction of the new MINI to happen all over again. Build it and they will come.</p>
<p>Thanks for the updates Gabe. Keep the pressure on them.</p>
<p>If they decided tomorrow, for argument sake, that they wanted to bring a MINI D to the US. How long from the point of making that decision until all regulatory, political, corporate, etc issues would actually allow the car to touch soil here?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, Gabe, and the updates (and the 335d review on Bimmerfile). I am glad to hear that BMW/MINI does indeed get it. But they’re sitting on the 318’s, 320’s, 323’s in other markets and I’m just wondering how hard would it be for them to just make the decision to market those models in the US, increase production and ship them over here? Gas prices are going up again and here in California, 91 octane is yet again about a half dollar more than diesel per gallon. The faster they move on this, the better…they need to take the leap.</p>
<p>What is the weight difference between the 1.6L Turbo and the 2.0L Diesel? That may make the most handling difference. If the diesel were priced between the Cooper and the Cooper S, there’d be a sale. Although, I’m thinking about a Crossover S w/diesel and AWD…</p>
<p>Fuel mileage-wise, my dad has an ’09 MC and I have an ’04 MC. He goes about 500miles on a single tank, I get into the mid-high 300 range. Now mind you I love my R50, but that simple engine update is incredible. Imagine a MINI D with another 8-10mpg, you’d rarely fill-up!</p>
<p>I’d also give anything to be able to have a 4-door 1er priced below the coupe w/a turbo four or at least the 5-door. Just so BMW/MINI know.</p>
<p>Here we go AGAIN!!! BMW/Mini as dumb and dumbmer. It is a fact that I believe that most of Mini owners as myself (95%) of us are awaiting this creature from the other side of the lagoon to EVER show up, DR61 I am very happy for you. As a matter of fact the new VW Golf Diesel is shortly to arrive to this different world as of Oct this year. Mileage is expected at 49 Mpg Hwy and somewhat 37 Mpg City. So BMW/Mini better get their act together and by the way will be priced a lot lower than Mini. I believe the handling will be the same guys, stop asking those questions, if you feel it wont then MODIFY the car with a better suspension(get it!!) My R53 has 111K and this last week I was averaging over 30 mpg at speeds of 65 mph(yes, I cant believe it myself I did another long run in our atrocious highways here in Puerto Rico and got the same mileage again!!) Well, seems to me that the GOLF might be the car for me, I will wait till next summer(when my bankruptcy goes over) to buy either the GOLF or if Mini decides to come over with 2.0 liter</p>
<p>if the 2.0TTD engine comes here and we have cooper D’s and cooper D JCW’s, i would finally be interested in an R56.</p>
<p>Will BMW/MINI ever do the right thing and finally bring their 4-cyl diesels to the US?</p>
<p>It’s just amazing that they don’t. Clean diesel finally gets figured out and they still don’t have the cars here!</p>
<p>VW/Audi will OWN the diesel market soon if BMW doesn’t get its act together. The Golf TDI is coming very soon and next year we’ll have the newly revised Jetta TDI.</p>
<p>VW itself bungles the situation in the States by de-contenting its cars. That leaves a perfect opportunity for BMW/MINI to come in with their usual well equipped cars and long options list.</p>
<p>Come on BMW/MINI, just do it already.</p>
<p>I don’t see this happening anytime soon. BMW clearly dropped the ball with the MINI D offering in the United States. Dealers and customers have been clamoring for this car and all they get from Munich headquarters is nothing but excuses and more excuses.</p>
<p>Face it, the #1 world market for the MINI (The US) is still treated like a third grade citizen by the corporate honchos!</p>
<p>Hi, I live in Portugal and à own a Mini Cooper Diesel (110 hp )and driving on highway according to the legal speed limit ( 75 mph ) i get a 70 mpg average !</p>
<p>The ecological data, you can get from the internet and be surprised…</p>
<p>Try it !</p>