F55_F56_safety_51598_highResFollowing [decent sales for the US](https://www.motoringfile.com/2015/03/03/mini-usa-sales-up-51-for-february-2015/), MINI announced today that worldwide sales for the brand are up **27.1%** (i.e. **20,303** units) in February compare to last year (i.e. **15,976** units). The release of new models along with strong volumes from a number of countries (i.e. Germany, Great Britain, Italy, North America, South Korea, and China) are the primary drivers for this month’s performance. While Global numbers are not broken out by model, MINI’s press release offers a number of interesting tidbits:

– January and February 2015 amount to the best year start ever for MINI with **37,678** vehicles delivered so far
– F56 sales are up **69.8%** with **7,877** cars sold in February 2015 compare to **4,460** for the same month last year
– F55 sales reached **5,088** units in February

As we said in the past, this significant year-over-year increase has to be considered with caution given where sales started from due to the model change between the end of 2013 and early 2014. Similarly to the US, dealerships worldwide were affected by low inventories while production output of the F56 was ramping up.

Since the 4-door Hardtop’s release, we have been wondering how much this new model contributes to overall Hardtop sales and with this month’s announcement we finally know what the breakout is. The F56 2-door makes up **61%** of total Hardtop volume, while the F55 4-door makes up **39%**. For a model that recently came out and that is a brand-new addition to the historical lineup, it’s safe to say that the F55 is off to a strong start. We also know that the US is MINI’s largest market and a good predictor of global trends, so if we apply these percentages to the most recent US sales, approximately **1,470** F56 and F55 **950** were sold in February.

Although it is too early to tell, we remain optimistic that the 4-door Hardtop might become MINI’s best-seller in 2015.