Well there wasn't really anyone else looking at the Rover group but, if anyone else had bought it might not have ended up in the United States it might have stated in Europe. It would have been cheaper and price and probably in overall quality.

 

Not sure the new MINI has reached "status car" fame yet. But even the original MINI had it's famous celebrity folk following.

MINI wasn't really taken over by BMW. It was part of a package deal when BMW purchased Rover. It was the only way for them to acquire it. Then they tossed Rover over to Ford. IMO a good move for us. Not sure I would even own a MINI had Rover produced it Probably would have ended up the same route as the Yugo.....Anyways, Jack Pitney of BMW headed up this project and he did a fine job at that.

MINI's became somewhat more expensive by 2007 due to added expense for the new Federal Government safety mandates handed out; Face lifts (for pedestrian safety), Multiple Air Bags, real TPMS instead of the original rotationals, lighter engines/components for better gas mileage and ALL the electronic ameneties and gizmos for the techy types these days.......stuff adds up.

Would a stripped down version of the MINI even sell very well considering all the crap folks want in their cars these days? Dipping/Electic/ Fold in/ Heated mirrors.....MFSW Steering wheels, cruise control, TPMS, Trip computers, Auto dim rear view mirrors, back up cameras, extra 12V sockets, GPS, Blue Tooth, connect, sport buttons, Cars that even park themselves.......heated this that and the other thing, partridge in a pear tree... Probably not.

And as long as buyers demand this sorta stuff, prices will only go up I'm afraid. But so will the other brands.

 

Bet a mini built by a different company might cost more....bmw does bring the ability to spread the cost of ours cars amount several different models...gen3 will be mostly bmw...sure a premium brand, but look at euro exchange rates and labour costs...bmw is actually selling mini's in the north american market at a pretty good discount....
Can you name any well built, well engineered car from europe for less...
mini is a euro brand....SABB? OOPS...rover?...MG (now owned by china), JAGUAR...(now indian..) fiat...different class car entirely....VOLVO?Nope...maybe Yugo could have bought the mini brand to reenter many markets...cars would be cheaper I bet...but cheap means less $$ spent on desgin and engineering....and the mix of rover/bmw desgin/engineering is what made gen1 so special....and jumpstarted the brand. I cannot think of another company that could have pulled it off. Sure parts are kinda $$, but you get what you pay for....small production runs for parts, hi exchange rates...all add $$....now that volume is up, aftermarkrt companies are making more and more parts....some prices are dropping....rotors, pads, alternators, etc....smart shopping helps too.

 

PS
Mini did sell a "stripper", the MINI ONE.....sold in europe...less power, less options, lower price...did not suit the image bmw/mini was building for the brand in many places....heck we just got the one series bmw....
Would the car have been suitable for the US....slower than a just-a-cooper...no options..
Crappy radio....reminds me of a car from a different era...folks in the us expect a minimum content level...mostly the results of mports from korea.(other auto makers have up optioned cars to compte in the last 10+ years in the us)..rememberA/C as an option....or fm radio as an option....crank windows? Doubt it well sell in the us...might be a joke on late night tv....so we did not get it.

 

Then it wouldn't be the MINI you know today. BMW engineered it and brought it back from the dead very successfully. And really, Is the price really that bad? 30k will get you a pretty damn good car.

 

Engineering costs a lot of money. You have to admit that the Mini, all models, have an awful lot of engineering in them.

I also don't think that the car was ever built for the masses. Kia, Honda, Mazda build cars for the masses. Mini started off as a niche vehicle. With gas prices going up and other financial considerations in the market place and lets face it a darn good product, the word has gotten out.

When I bought my Mini you hardly ever saw them in my neck of the woods. Waving was very, very common. Now days there's a Mini on every corner. Waving has become non gratis. (I wave no matter what. I wave to other Mini's when I'm in my GTO. My wife thinks I'm over the top.)

I think there is a lot of value in the engineering. It does not have to have a toilet in it for me to spend over 30K on one.

 

Thanks for sharing guys. You have all contributed excellent info and points of view.

 

BMW is the most sustainable car company on the planet. Wins the award every year. Why? They have the best factories and resources, and a huge market. Is the price more because it's owned by BMW? Debatable, and something we won't really ever know. What other car are you getting for $30 that is so unbelievably better that it makes the Mini a bad buy? Honestly...it's the most fun I have ever had driving a car. My sister had one, my aunt has one, and everyone I know that has driven one loves them.

So what are you getting when you buy a car? What's the point of driving? If you want to enjoy getting from point A to point B, or even enjoying a weekend drive...isn't a Mini the perfect car? No car I can think of that I'd rather be driving at any point OTHER than a mini costs less than $70,000. The biggest thing I look for in a car is enjoyment. And putting a smile on your face every time you drive is worth every penny. No car around the same price can come even close. Simply because of that...if I had the money, I'd pay over $40,000 for a Mini if I had to.

 

Umm, don't say that too loud. I like the price where its at.......

 

I'll keep that on the down low. I just don't see why people think Mini's should be cheaper. Justacoopers start just north of $20,000...how is that unreasonable? MCS's start at $23. An MCS has right around the same power to weight ratio that my Dad's Jaguar has, yet costs half the price MSRP.

And about dealerships throwing on all the options to raise prices...most of the MCS's on my dealers lot are about $25-$27,000.

 

I would say that the BMW brand definitely has a lot to do with the price and BMW is definitely capitalizing on the MINI heritage. Apart from the tight handling of the car, MINI's aren't all that much different than say an MK6 GTi. A fully loaded GTi does not cost nearly as much as a MINI and I would argue that the interior of the GTi is much better. There's definitely a premium in owning a MINI beyond what it has to offer in function and form.

 

I paid just at 31k for my 09 MCS and I don't think that was bad at all. Would I like to pay 25k for that same car? Dang skippy...But over all, I really like my car and don't mind the price.

 

Just priced out a GTi on VW's website at $29,995. Without a sunroof.

My 2012 MCS I just ordered with the Dual panoramic sun roof...$31,000.

You're right. $30,000 is not nearly $31,000. Funny, the sun roof is a $1,000 option. So if I made the comprable MCS, it would also be $30,000.

Want to rethink your statement at all?

 

With all that said...I guess we should ask ourselves this:

would a Volkswagen GTi be cheaper if it wasn't made by Volkswagen?

 

Weird. You can get leather(autobahn package), but you can't have leather with the sunroof or the nav. I could care less about the nav but I like my leather and my sunroofs......

 

Just some further research. The following are MSRP's for the "sportier" models of the following cars:

MCS - $23,700
Volkswagen GTi - $23,695
Honda Civic SI - $22,205
Corolla S - $17,770
Scion TC - $19,305
Mazda 3 - $22,235
Nissan Altima - $24,360

Someone PLEASE tell me how the Mini prices are outrageous. I just don't see it...you will never convince me that a MCS isn't worth $6,000 more than a Corolla S. Or $5 more than a GTi.

I think the biggest problem here is that the Nissan Altima is the most expensive car listed. now THERE'S your real problem. So I think we should all think ourselves lucky that Nissan didn't buy Mini

 

So to be fair to Mr. Minibeagle, who asked the original question here...

No. I really don't think BMW has anything to do with the price at all. If you look at the prices of the major competitors to Mini's, Mini's are within $2,000 of pretty much all of them. Excluding Toyota. I think the Market has to do with the price of Mini's...just like it has to do with the price of EVERYTHING.

Anddddddddd, I'm done. Sorry for the rants. but hopefully at least 1 person took something away from everything I just posted.

 

Yes I did, the money I am paying for my JCW Coupe will be well worth it in Fit,Form, Finish and Performance!! Drum roll please!

Now if only I could get a production date. LOL

Pat

 

My only beef with the BMW "quality" is this ridiculus issue with the peeling chrome tape on the beltline of the Countryman. A car company that exudes quality should NEVER have allowed this to happen. Really...chrome TAPE on a $33,000 + car? Someone was asleep at the switch. I love my Mini. I think it was worth what I paid until this thing cropped up. Now I wonder where else BMW cut corners.

 

I believe that it an issue that is being worked out. Nothing in life is perfect.