MINI December Sales Numbers Down, but Stable
MINI USA ended 2016 down, but far from out. December deliveries were down 7% compared to the same month in 2015, but this is still less of a decline than the 11.1% than the brand suffered over the entire year. MINI USA seems to have stabilized at a lower volume than the year before. In reality, a large portion of this is the Twins and the Paceman. Excluding these, MINI’s 2016 performance is in line with Mazda, and better than VW. Truth be told, it was a tough year for MINI, but they seem to be coming out of it better than the parent company BMW.
Looking at Matt’s MINI Index, it appears that December was one of those anomalous months. The year has been rather off for the brand as a whole. There’s no explaining Smart selling so well, other than the fact that the car actually would fit under the Christmas tree. VW’s numbers are artificially high because of the sales depression caused by diesel-gate, the second month in a row VW can be happy for basically just surviving the storm. Considering these facts, it’s hard to really place MINIs performance in context based on the December numbers.
This month, the 2-door, convertible and the Clubman did well. The uptick in the Clubman more than offsets the decline in the 4-door, and with the Countryman coming soon, 2017 looks to be starting on a positive note for the brand. One thing that bothers us a bit, is that the good Clubman news isn’t even earning a mention in the official press release.
Official News: Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 4, 2017…
MINI Brand Sales
For December, MINI USA reports 4,658 automobiles sold, a decrease of 7.0 percent from the 5,009 sold in the same month a year ago. For the year, MINI USA sales are down 11.1 percent to 52,030 compared to 58,514 in 2015.
MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles
- In December, MINI Certified Pre-Owned sales were 1,011 vehicles, up 3.1 percent over December 2015. For the year, MINI Certified Pre- Owned sales set a record with 12,445 an increase of 7.1 percent compared to 11,619 in 2015.
- Total MINI Pre-Owned sales for December were 2,608, an increase of 14.4 percent over December 2015.
- For the year, Total MINI Pre-Owned sales set a record with 28,633, a 6.9 percent increase from 2015.
<p>So it’s official. The R60 Countryman was the best selling MINI in the US in 2016.</p>
<p>MINI USA TOTAL NEW CAR SALES 2016</p>
<p>R60 12,706
F54 12,204
F56 11,264
F55 11,174
F57 04,584 (9 months YTD)
R61 00,085
R58 00,008
R59 00,005</p>
<p>R60 Countryman production will now have ceased, and production of its successor – F60 – will already be underway, ready to go on sale in the UK and Europe in February, and the rest of the world in March.</p>
<p>“The King is dead, long live The King!”</p>
<p>I can think of a very good reason why Smart sales have risen. Are you not aware that the fortwo has been completely reimagined in 2016, and is now based on the Renault Twingo, and is a vastly better car than its predecessor?</p>
<p>That’s the reason no question. It’s a dramatically better car. Of course that’s easy to do with a bar so low.</p>
<p>The new Smart is not actually based on the new Twingo. “Project Edison” was a joint collaboration by Renault and Daimler, aimed at conceiving a shared platform for small city cars for both companies. Renault and Daimler invested equally in the research and the development of the platform, with Renault specialising more in engines and Daimler in transmissions.</p>