ell, it's that time again... October sales numbers are out... and, yet again, it's ugly.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01...gures.html?m=1

It seems that October was below the end of the R56 run last year. Although not broken down, I'm guessing the Countryman sales were, yet again, carrying the brand. Now in its second year, it seems the F56 is not exactly flying off the shelves. Most alarming here is that, it seems, Mini will sell it least number of cars in a year since its launch in 2002!

Another interesting comparison- http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2014/11...4-ytd.html?m=1

Mini is on the brink of being passed by Fiat in sales!... yikes.,.

 

And yet another hold was placed on F56 sales/delivery due to a seat update so I'll save ya the trouble and predict November sales won't be up to snuff either......

 

Where did you find the info about a hold due to seat update?

My F56 on a ship is passing front of Mexico now. I hope it doesn't get delayed.

 

Alternatively, you could see that the F56 actually sold very well in October and surpassed the October 2013 sales for the hardtop. http://www.motoringfile.com/2014/11/...d-for-october/ breaks down the results. Probably time to look at the other models for bringing the overall sales number down...

 

What is the cause for this new seat delay issue? Are they just out of stock like the Harmon Kardon issue? Does it affect owners who have already received their cars?

 

There is a fix. Plastic panel is removed on the outboard side of the seat, then there are adjustments made. No parts required and seems like a quick fix.

 

Been reading his latest posts, jrs66 seems to be a "MINI half empty" sorta chap.

 

So according to that second link MINI sold 63 fewer cars in October 2014 vs October 2013.

That makes the sales numbers "ugly"?

We get it, you don't like the F56.

 

We need to stop feeding the "troll". He only posts in the F56 forum when sales numbers are released. Clearly he does not like the F56 as it's always doom and gloom when he posts on the F56 forum.

 

Likely I missed it somewhere, but a quick fix for what?

 

Worldwide Mini is doing great, Troll Man carefully concentrates on US and Canadian sales, where the EPA bottleneck clearly had influence. This is much ado about nothing.

 

I think OP is also interested in the F56. Otherwise he would have stopped comming to this forum. I find it interesting to see the sales numbers and wonder why they are doing so bad. Could it be because the history of bad reliability? EPA delay is over, and there are 2015 year model cars on dealer lots.

 

+1. Why don't the Mods/Admins just bin these threads when they appear? It's like a bird with bad manners: Just drops in to poop on your table every so often. Nothing constructive to say or add to the F56 discussion.

 

Wow 3x the number of minis sold in Oct 14 vs 13. If we just look at the numbers one would conclude sales are up 300%!

But we know there are reasons why the numbers are screwy. And the fact that there was a model change in April, and again in September, which is necessarily going to skew sales.

On a personal note, when I went in to buy my 14MCS a sales associate advised me to hold off and get a 15. I'm sure many ppl were given similar advice which can mess with the sales numbers.

The real indication of sales will likely be in 2015, as all of these shipping issues shall be in the past.

 

There is something to be said about MINI sales being low. I'm sure some of it has to be with the 2015 delays, but I was just on my local MINI website in Northern California. Looking at only the Hatchback base and S models there are 50 of these MINI's on the dealer lot, 8 of which are 2014 models. I have never seen such a high inventory for this dealer. I bought my base 2014 MINI in May of 2014 and paid $25,345 plus T&L. Just for the hell of it (and in a moment of lusting for a different vehicle) I shopped my car around a bit to see what kind of a trade in I would get. One dealer offered me $17,000 (after calling the MINI used car manager for a price), Autonation offered me $14,500 through an internet quote, and Edmunds.com came up with $18,745. MINI is known for maintaining their resale values so I am finding these values incredibly low. One of my rationalizations is that the car is so new that no one knows how to value them. I had a 2008 base hatchback that I paid $22,500 plue T&L and sold back to the dealer in 2012 for $14,000 (18,000 miles), which is a 62% retained value after 4 years. So what's going on?

 

There's nothing going on. The worst possible time to sell a car is when it's about 6 months old. They figure there must be a reason you're selling it (like you can't make the payments) so they try and hose you big time. You could maybe get $20k for it. Much above that the buyer can get a new one for about the same money.

 

Jrs66 needs to get a life.

 

I think you are pretty spot on. The large inventory level of my local dealer is surprising as is the dealer 60 miles away near the Bay Area which has 43 hardtops in inventory, 8 of which are 2014. The usual inventory levels that I have seen in the past were around 20 at the most.

 

Our sales were up 35% and guess what...60% were f56. EPA hold lowered sales since we had low inventory. I went from a r57 to a f56 and love it,as does my wife..we have two. Many stores may be heavy on 2015 Hardtops as there were so many sitting at ports both state side and across the pond. Small car sales is down across the board as gas prices go so does the small car market but there are many factors to consider with these numbers.

 

Since the F56 is such a major change, I'd expect that all the other MINIs, with their old engines, etc., would be seriously down. Surprising to me, but it looks like the Countryman is holding its own. Right or wrong my perception of MINIs, in general, was that they were unreliable. I wouldn't have looked at them if the F56 hadn't come along. Once the EPA problem is solved and the rest of the line is renewed, sales should explode.

 

Haha...Chevy Cruze. That car makes me laugh....and weep. Must be the Walmart factor ...(cheap x ugly= affordable/undiscriminating). Works fine for a can of soup.

 

I love my 2006 but seriously feel that Mini has lost it's way. Sale figures back this up. With somewhat spotty reliability and prohibitive service costs many are one time owners only. Way too many unneeded models and progressively worse restyles, of each new generation, has ended any desire for me to buy a new one.

 

I rented a Cruze LTZ (1.4L 4 cylinder turbo) for a week while I was in Hawaii this year, and that car felt like it really had some low end power. It was fun to drive hard, turbo had a nice tone, with low profile tires. Also had very good noise isolation on the doors and cabin was pretty quiet. The style can be debated, but okay for my taste.

I didn't like the super light artificial steering feel, and the tiny interior even though it looked like it should be bigger from the outside.

I think it's a good car, but I wouldn't buy it because the handling was really not for me, and I don't trust American brands yet.

 

Seat back positioner.....aka: seat back mechanism for front seats.

 

I agree. Had a rental in Philly a few months ago. Thought it was a lot of car for the money. Felt . . . Japanese ;-)