MINI USA Sales Down for November – Almost Outsold by the BMW X7 Alone
While the past few months have seen the brand regain some success in sales, November wasn’t so kind. For the month November, MINI USA reported 3,067 vehicles sold, a decrease of 13.1 percent from the 3,528 in the same month a year ago. Once again midsize and large SUVs are dominating the US market to the detriment to small fun to drive cars. Case in point the BMW X7 (which starts at almost $75,000) came within 453 units of outselling the entire MINI brand.
http://http://s3.bimmerfile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/X7_027_highRes.jpg
http://http://s3.bimmerfile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/X7_027_highRes.jpg
On the pre-owned side things were slightly better. MINI Certified Pre-Owned sold 952 vehicles, a decrease of 2.0 percent from November 2018. The bright spot of the month was the standard Pre-Owned MINI which sold 2,367 vehicles, an increase of 7.7 percent from November 2018.
<p>UKL2 BASED USA SALES NOV vs YTD 2019</p>
<p>X1.. 1,711 (-08.3%) vs 16,027 (-37.5%)
F60 1,158 (-01.4%) vs 13,273 (-19.0%)
X2.. 1,032 (-54.6%) vs 10,200 (-30.6%)
F56 0,723 (-26.1%) vs 07,868 (-14.4%)
F55 0,517 (-23.2%) vs 05,615 (-06.4%)
F57 0,259 (-21.3%) vs 03,784 (-27.2%)
F54 0,410 (+10.2%) vs 03,249 (-21.1%)</p>
<p>Oliver Heilmer, chief designer at MINI, said in a recent interview that “In the US, MINI is losing sales because it only has one SUV – the Countryman – which many Americans perceive to be too small to justify its purchase price”, and that its successor will be larger. With regard to the current 5-door Hatch, which is a better seller globally than the three-door, he said that the design team is working to improve its aesthetics “quite a lot”.</p>
<p>It has previously been hinted by other trusted journalists close to BMW insiders, that the five-door Hatch will be replaced with an SAV, the rumored Sportsman, sister car to the next X2. Heilmer also hinted that the replacement for the Clubman will be more SUV like. Previous insider sources suggest that it will be sister car to the next 2-series Active Tourer – the rumored Spaceman – the most spacious MINI yet by virtue of its higher roof line.</p>
<p>Glad to hear ascetics are being addressed. I find the entire line up visually underwhelming. If BMW wants to sell a premium, expensive, low functionality vehicle, it needs to be stunning.</p>
<p>That said, I don’t think the parent company will be able to turn this around. The fall of Rome took a long time yet it was inevitable. I do appreciate the brand bosses trying to recessitate fortunes. I just think they’ve been taking the path of justifying crappy compromises for a number of years now. And it’s causing a painfully drawn out downward spiral to irrelevancy.</p>
<p>IMO, the BMW management culture is too slow, traditional and risk averse to bring the MINI brand back to a place of inspiration.</p>
<p>Electric vehicles sales are really starting to take off. I don’t think MINI will survive that.</p>
<p>Can’t say I’m too surprised. One perception is that they have abandoned the people who helped the brand’s reemergence the success it has been: small car enthusiasts.</p>
<p>MINIs have gotten bigger and bigger and while that’s good for the number of people who own a MINI because it brought in people who wouldn’t have considered one, it had been at the abandonment of those longing for another small MINI.</p>
<p>There’s no Rocketman. No Superleggera. there may even potentially be no more MINIs On Top event in New England because attendance has dropped recently.</p>
<p>At the risk of generalizing, the throngs of new Countryman owners often don’t seem the kind of customers who embrace motoring culture (waving, fun runs, clubs, etc.) and aren’t rushing to mod their cars the way the first wave of enthusiastic R53 owners did.</p>
<p>I think they need a small car again, and they need to set expectations internally that it won’t sell in the same numbers at the Countryman, Clubman and Hardtop.</p>
<p>The next generation all-electric small MINI platform is being co-developed under the joint venture with Great Wall Motor, known internally as ‘Project Grizzly’. According to sources, three MINI versions are proposed:</p>
<p>MINI Mini
MINI 3-door Hatch
MINI 5-door SUV</p>
<p>The MINI Mini – think Rocketman – is unlikely to be sold in the US; it’s too small and will not meet US safety regulations. According to insider sources, the MINI 3-door Hatch is unlikely to be much smaller than the current F56. MINI’s designers are nonetheless working on how to improve its packaging, and on how to reduce its footprint and the length of its front overhang. Think R60 for the size of the SUV version.</p>
<p>If the Smart Car and Fiat 500 can meet U.S. safety regulations the Rocketman should have no problem.</p>
<p>Looks like I’m going to be keeping my JCW Coupe alive for a long, long time.</p>
<p>Safety regs are becoming increasingly stringent. As you know, the Smart Car is now officially dead in the U.S. and the Fiat 500 will officially be withthdrawn from the U.S. at the end of 2019. Stocks remain high, however, so sales will continue into 2020.</p>
<p>I can well understand your passion for your JCW Coupe. I booked an extended test drive in a Coupe S when it was first launched, and loved it. I was sorely tempted but in the end the restricted rear and over the shoulder visibility, high noise levels and slightly claustrophobic interior put me off; but it was a blast to drive :)</p>
Big surprise. They closed my dealership, so I’d have to drive a few hours to buy and service one. I know 4 people IN MY MINI CLUB alone who say this one is their last, for that reason alone. Plus, the price keeps going up, and you can no longer order a la carte, as I did with my two previous MINIs.
<p>2013 was MINI USA’s BEST EVER YEAR, with a total of 66,502 MINIs sold. The Paceman was little more than a 2-door Countryman, and the R58/59 twins were essentially the same car. So on that basis, the picture looked as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>R56…… 26,954 = 40.53% (Hardtop)</li>
<li>R60/61 24,587 = 36.97% (SAV)</li>
<li>R58/59 05,346 = 08.04% (Sports)</li>
<li>R55…… 05,155 = 07.75% (Wagon)</li>
<li>R57…… 04,460 = 06.71% (Convertible)</li>
</ol>
<p>Interestingly, if we compare the above sales figures with 2019 YTD, USA customer preferred model choice hasn’t changed that much:</p>
<p>MINI USA SALES 2019 YTD</p>
<ol>
<li>F55/56 13,483 = 39.91% (Hardtop)</li>
<li>F60…….13,273 = 39.29% (SAV)</li>
<li>F57…… 03,784 = 11.20% (Convertible)</li>
<li>F54…… 03,242 = 09.60% (Wagon)</li>
</ol>
<p>Total…….. 33,782</p>