MINI USA Sales Down 12.6% for November
MINI is facing serious headwinds currently with small car sales being down across the board in the US and increasing interest rates driving down sales overall. The net is that MINI sales in the US decreased 12.6% for November with 3,528 vehicles sold. That’s decrease from the 4,038 sold in the same month a year ago. As you’d expect in this crossover crazed environment, MINI sales in November were led by the MINI Countryman, with 1,175 units. Year-to-date sales of the MINI Countryman have increased 23.0 percent compared to the first eleven months of 2017.
Year to date, MINI brand sales are down 3.8 percent. That continued to be above the rest of the small car industry but it’s still a concern as there seems to be no waning of the truck and SUV sales craze in sight.
MINI Sales: Pre-Owned Vehicles Continue the Upward Trend
MINI Certified Pre-Owned sold 971 vehicles in November, an increase of 30.5 percent from November 2017. That’s a huge increase and a positive trend – especially for MINI dealers which often make more profit per vehicle on used and CPO cars. Total MINI Pre-Owned sold 2,198 vehicles in November, an increase of 2.4 percent from November 2017.
<p>So MINI sold 3,528 new cars in Nov and 2,198 used ones. Wow.</p>
<p>New car sales down 12% and used car sales up 30% … this suggests to me a certain price-sensitivity in the market.</p>
<p>That’s a trend many automakers are seeing.</p>
<p>Agreed</p>
<p>Recently, I got to drive a new Toyota Corolla back to back with a brand new F56 MINI Cooper. The Corolla was about 1/2 the out the door price of the MINI. The Corolla had more features, albeit of noticeably lower overall quality of parts. It also ran on regular fuel as opposed to Premium/mid grade. So for about 1/2 the price, you would get less engine torque, mushy brakes, not as good handling, not as good overall driving experience. But you get more features (doors, spare tire and jack, etc), an arguably better radio, better interior fit and finish with fewer rattles, few hidden dealer added costs. If I wasn’t such a nut case about how the car drives, the much better value for money in a small car would be the Corolla. Given the trend of MINI selling well as used cars, that should give the hint that people really do want to buy MINIs. They just can’t afford them.</p>
<p>A couple of things. Yes MINIs cost more than they did 10-15 years ago but so to most if not all cars. The average cost of a car in the US for instance has risen to around $37,000 dollars. The base MINI starts at $22k. In 2002 the average cost for a car in the US was $22k vs MINIs base price of $17k. As you can see MINI has done a exceptional job of continuing to offer a base Cooper at a very low cost as compared to the average car. As you can imagine producing a car in the UK or Europe for $21k and selling it in the US is simply not profitable so MINI charges a premium for premium options. So it’s easy to see why it’s easy to get to a $30k Cooper that’s not totally loaded. It’s also easy to see what BMW’s financial strategy is on these cars. They want (and need) to sell heavily loaded MINIs.</p>
<p>The other thing that is really never mentioned is the fact that the F-generation of MINIs is a small BMW. Everything in these cars goes through an engineering and design rigor that few cars in the world go through. The result of this is that the Countryman was just named #1 in quality for small crossovers in the US ahead of Mercedes, Volvo – EVERYONE.</p>
<p>In the end a MINI may be small and may cost (at a base) in the low-20s, it’s a very different product than a Corolla.</p>
<p>Last point: Toyota’s sales where also down in November on weak demand for their sedans including the Corolla.</p>
<p>Points understood. However, back in 2005, when I made the purchase on my MINI, I compare a MINI against a Mazda 3. With comparable options, the MINI came out ahead in that, if I could option the Mazda 3 up to the MINI’s level of equipment, the MINI was actually less expensive. Though the Corolla/Mazda3/Nissan Sentra/Honda Civic cars are quite different than the MINI, if MINI wants to increase their volume of sales, that is the group they need to go after. I really think that is what BMW is trying to do, by holding onto the MINI brand. They are trying to get down to the world where the rest of us live, without watering down the BMW brand cache. And it worked. I would never have bought an E60 5-series or even considered getting a BMW if it wasn’t for my ownership experience of my R53 MINI.
I totally agree with you that the F-gen is more of a BMW now. Like a BMW 0 series, and (back to my original argument) appropriately priced accordlingly. Which brings us full circle, where the majority of Americans (in the US) are not in the price range for buying small cars in the BMW range. However, in Canada, I was just told that MINI actually increased sales so the big drop in sales is probably more USA centric.
I suspect car sales are down in all of the US. I don’t see any new cars out there that really interest me. I’ve started looking to see what’s out there to replace my R53 and there really is nothing out there that turns my head. I’m getting used the the look of the F series.</p>
<p>All good points. I do think the buying climate has changed and will continue to. How MINI evolves to meet that will be very interesting.</p>
<p>I agree with you on that. I feel MINI deserves a failing grade in their marketing the last few years.</p>
<p>One more thing, on the MINI Canada website configurator, you canNOT configure a base model MINI. If you click on a model, say MINI Cooper 3 door (“from $23,090 cdn”), the very first thing it does is tell you to “select your line” and you can’t go any further unless you select, at minimum, the $1300 Classic package. Then you need to pay for paint. I guess what it does is encourage me to just buy what is on the dealer’s lot, or a used MINI already configured the way I want it, but at a lower cost. Having said that, $27000 CDN is equivalet to about $20,000 USD right now, which makes it a relative bargain in the US, but not in Canada.</p>
<p>Find it odd that in November, after summer is over, convertible sales shoot up and are now even for the year, the only small MINI that can say that. Yet the Countryman that had been kicking butt all year, tanked last month.</p>
<p>Unless there is an unexpected upturn in MINI USA sales this month, 2018 sales will be the lowest since the global economic downturn in 2009.</p>