MINI USA Sales Down 14% for October
For October, MINI USA sales reported 3,166 vehicles sold, a decrease of 13.7 percent from the 3,669 sold in the same month a year ago. MINI sales in October were led by the MINI Countryman, with 1,070 units. Year-to-date sales of the MINI Countryman have increased 29.1 percent compared to the first 10 months of 2017. Year to date, MINI brand sales are down 2.9 percent.
<p>Wow – the only MINI USA model in positive sales territory in October is the F56 Hardtop up 8%. The Countryman is down 11%, ending a straight run of nine months increase in sales. If that sounds bad, the BMW X1 is down 41%.</p>
<p>YTD, the Countryman is the only MINI in positive sales territory up 29.1% whereas the X1 is up fractionally 0.9%.</p>
<p>Crazy.</p>
<p>Only three BMW’s are up from last year and only a single MINI model – and it isn’t the Countryperson.</p>
<p>Is this a US economy thing? I don’t get it.</p>
<p>MINI could use some marketing people who know what they are doing.</p>
<p>Whether a joint venture with GWM will make future small MINIs commercially viable on a global scale is anybody’s guess, but ever since the original 1959 Mini, no one has been able to make small Minis profitable. BMW mockingly referred to the Mini’s former parent company as the “English patient”, but BMW now has to eat humble pie.</p>
<p>Having lived cheek by jowl with Southeast Asian people for a large chunk of my life, I can confidently say that they are not known for being great innovators. They are, however, extremely good at dissecting other people’s innovations and working out what is good and what is not so good about them, before turning them into a commercial success.</p>
<p>Everyone laughed when the first Japanese cars went on sale in the West, and they laughed even louder when the first Korean cars landed on Western shores, but no one is laughing at them now. Chinese car makers are advancing fast and will very soon match anything their neighbors can offer.</p>