Two thousand and twenty was a year that MINI USA sales were to slowly rebuild with a refreshed product range a simplified ordering process and lower pricing. Unfortunately a complete shutdown to the economy has gotten in the way due to he global COVID pandemic.

MINI brand sales totaled 5,288 vehicles, a decrease of 41.5% vs the 9,044 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2019. Looking at the numbers it’s hard to find areas to even draw conclusions from – it’s all down. The one thing that is somewhat interesting is that the smaller cars of the range are down less than the Countryman and Clubman.

MINI USA SALES

OFFICIAL RELEASE

Since the onset of the global pandemic in the U.S. in mid-March, BMW has instituted a number of measures to sell and service vehicles across the U.S.  While the situation has differed greatly from state-to-state, at many locations, BMW has accelerated its use of digital sales practices, allowing customers to move further down the path to purchase online before visiting a store, and enabled virtual transactions so that purchases may be completed digitally and vehicles delivered.  Dealers are also offering “invisible” service where vehicles in need of service or maintenance are picked up and dropped off without interaction.
 
“While automotive sales in the U.S. continue to be impacted by the ongoing global pandemic, the situation has provided an opportunity to institute new practices and find new ways to better serve our customers,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO, BMW of North America.  “As a result of these efforts and with the great partnership of our dealers, we have seen an increase in sales over each month of the quarter, which gives us reason to be cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year.  As we continue to navigate these uncertain waters, we will always prioritize the health, safety and well-being of our employees, dealers and customers.”