Hot off the presses:

NEW YORK — BMW Group is betting it can lure more customers to Mini by adding crossovers and two-door hatchbacks.

The German luxury automaker appears to be doubling down on its small-car brand even as it acknowledges the challenges of selling to Americans obsessed with light trucks.

BMW Group sales boss Pieter Nota, speaking to Automotive News this month on the sidelines of the Formula E race here, said turning around the Mini business in the U.S. will take new products, including fresh offerings in what Mini calls its Hardtop line.

But new developments also are coming in small crossovers, he said.

“That’s a growing segment,” Nota added, avoiding specific product plans. “Without revealing anything, we will see growth in that segment.”

BMW is addressing an existential crisis for Mini: Customers, especially in the U.S., are ditching small cars for roomy crossovers.

“You see virtually every brand, including the super premiums, moving into these type of vehicles,” said Jeff Schuster, president of global forecasting at LMC Automotive. “There is a core buyer for Mini now, and that group is not growing. So moving into this segment could attract new buyers.

“Porsche is a good example of success in stretching a brand into the crossover segment.”

Crossovers accounted for 38 percent of the U.S. light-vehicle market last year, up from 27 percent five years ago. During that period, small-car market share shrank to 12 percent from 18 percent. Mini’s largest model, the four-door Countryman compact crossover, was the brand’s bestselling nameplate through June this year.

Mini’s U.S. sales peaked at 66,502 in 2013. The brand declared that year that it would sell more than 100,000 vehicles per year here by 2020. But last year, U.S. sales fell 7.3 percent to 43,684. Sales through June of this year fell 22 percent to 17,583.

Poor sales have dented dealer profitability. That has prompted BMW Group to let Mini dealers downsize their stores or move operations into their BMW locations, sharing backroom expenses to help defray operating costs and real-estate overhead. Dealers are expected to differentiate the brands in the consolidated location, with Mini-branded showrooms and dedicated sales and service employees.

But if BMW Group executives in Munich are worried about Mini’s prospects in the world’s second-largest auto market, Nota didn’t let on in New York.

Mini is an “iconic brand” and will have a leading role in the luxury small-car segment, he said. “We are optimistic that with the new models that will come‚ including the Mini Electric, but also John Cooper Works, we can see a healthy future for the Mini brand in the U.S.,” Nota said.

BMW Group’s strategy to stick it out in America’s collapsing small-car market contrasts with Daimler’s decision to yank Smart from the U.S., and Volkswagen’s plan to mothball the Beetle.

Nota sees the competition’s capitulation as a way to consolidate market share.

“Unlike some of our competitors, we are not turning our back to the U.S.,” Nota said. “We see that even as an opportunity.”

 

Thanks for sharing this.....

Interesting read......

Well, hope the plan works.....as I'm one of the 'core buyers' referred to, still interested in 2 door hardtops for my purposes....

Crossing my fingers....as well as just did my part by getting a new MINI a week ago...

 

Photo of BMW Group sales boss Pieter Nota



Price? Unless they address the cost disparity between MINI and VW, etc. they are head in sand. The JCW is too expensive for most small car buyers, how many do they really think they can sell? The electric is range limited compared to competition, but they already have the excuses flowing, as read elsewhere.

My car is low miles so I have years to go before buying anything else, so don't count on my money MINI.

 

MINI is a step above VW so I would expect *some* difference. Although that 6 year warranty is pretty awesome.... wish MINI had that.
Agree that the JCW is a bit overpriced. Most definitely the new 300hp JCW's, when you can get a VW R for much less with the same HP.
I thought about it, but decided the small increase in power of the current JCW was not worth the large difference in price. And the 2020 is just way out of my budget.

 

IMO, BMW will continue to struggle with MINI sales and profitability until they decide to offload the brand to another automotive manufacturer, most likely Chinese.

 

Agree.....

My wife just got another Beetle (yes, I tried to get to go with a MINI, but that's another story...), and the warranty is great. Although only reason they extended it, is to help offset the bad press they got from the emissions scandal......

Hmmmm.......

They'll have to change name to 'Wéixíng' though....

 

The larger (4 door) Minis have dominated US Mini sales since the first Gen2 Countryman, and they still do. And they will still dominate the market. One problem is that the Gen3 Minis are now in their 7th year of production and there's no word of a Gen4 yet (other than the electric Mini which is clearly a niche market). I think Mini needs to refresh their cars soon because US buyers are going to look elsewhere when they replace their Gen3 cars. And there are a lot of other options out there in this "compact crossover" market.

 

adding a 2 door hatchback? What does that mean?

I've been driving the brand for over 10 years and I've owned multiple r53 & r56. The F56 does not interest me and I'm what you could call a "core" buyer. We just bought a toyota 86 TRD edition

 

I guess I'm also a core buyer that they are talking about.... I only bought the countryman because I wanted an all wheel drive mini. I kept my R53, because it is actually small (Plus, at one point, I had the wild idea of swapping the N18 and awd drivetrain into my R53 :P).... I wanted the R56, but could never get myself to pull the trigger because it was bigger. (not THAT much bigger.... but its bigger) And the F56 was a hard "no" for me after test driving one. It is close to the size of my R60 (mine is lowered and whatnot), the handling just didn't feel "Mini" to me.

As for the Mini Electric...... I like roadtrips.... I'm not turning a 10 hour drive to St.Louis into a 2 day event just because the car can only go 150 miles between charges. I like the idea of it, and the instant power you get from electric, but its quite the hassle. Plus, aside from suspension and cosmetic stuff, the Mini Electric will definitely be the antibiotic for the modding bug that I always get from Mini's. And that's a bug that I would like to keep.

I know the data is there showing people going towards bigger cars, but could that be because nothing has been mini-enough to satisfy? Like.... If I cant have a true tiny car, and I don't want a big car.... may as well get a crossover?

It will be sad to see mini die..... But I'm not buying a Mini that's the size of a ford fusion.... That defeats the purpose of mini. They cant expect to have the same sales as other major manufacturers with such a niche market. I personally feel It would be a better idea to merge the brick and mortar locations with BMW locations, and keep the niche alive.

 

The thing is, Ford has decided that the Fusion is too small of a car for our market... so when MINI does release a Fusion sized car, it will still be considered small. *gags*

I agree with pretty much everything BeardedR60 said. We fell in love with the power delivery of the Golf R but All4 isn't offered on hardtops so we bought an R61. I had the same thought driving the F56, it's as big and heavy as the Paceman... and has the same body roll despite riding lower... huh...

We may buy a MINI SE next year, but I don't really care about the range. We will always have one ICE car with a manual for as long as I'm still breathing.

Honestly I think the bigger issue is the way dealerships work at all. Too expensive to keep MINI dealers up and running? If only there were a solution for that! They are on the right track with the MINI 2 U service.

 

Apparently BMW finds it challenging to sell a vehicle profitably for less than $40,000. If the solution they devise is to raise the prices of MINIs way beyond any possible value proposition, even the most loyal will rebel. Many already think MINI pricing is way too high, especially with just-announced increases for 2020. Many already are in full rebellion mode.

Here's an interesting take on what's happening in Bavaria:

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/w...tegy-products/

 

It's tough for any automaker to turn a profit on an affordable car. That's what makes the impressive designs that much more memorable. They are forced to provide the consumer with more for less. The luxury auto makers never have to make that sacrifice and get complacent in their development. "Yeah sure, just make the grille 10% larger, add two more fake vents, and get the computer science student intern to update the GUI on the infotainment. We're good to go for the next 4 years!" (Looking at you BMW/Audi)

Beyond that they tend to approach the problem backwards . They take their cheapest pre-existing model and strip things out to make their budget instead of looking at the core values of their brand and designing a car from the ground up. (Think Mercedes CLA vs the new A-Class) Few of them sell, even less at full asking price. Or maybe they sell like crazy, but you have to sell ten 128i to equal the same profit as one 535ix M-Sport. Yup, too hard to sell to people who actually compare features and benefits of a product instead of just buying the name.

The issue for me is that the prices ARE justified, but only if you want a luxury car. BMW threw all sorts of nice stuff at the cars that I didn't care about, and then diluted the driving experience, which I do care about. As lifestyle luxury vehicles, they are spot on for pricing; as a toy to throw around an autocross course or a back-road, I'll be looking elsewhere. Makes me wonder how light a modern MINI could be made if someone at BMW cared.

 

Agree! Interestingly, it was the value proposition, along with the unique design and driving dynamics, that drew me to MINI. Having had a succession of high-line/lux/performance vehicles, I was looking to change things up. Fell in love with MINI, as has my spouse. And that $40K price point seems like a screaming bargain when one is used to driving cars priced twice that, and higher.

And, of course, MINI got me partly because I could have this quirky, fun car to toss around without having to relinquish the nav and the safety features, and the dual zone air conditioning and the electric parking brake and the back up camera and the automatic headlights, and the adjustable dynamic damping, and the leather memory heated seats, and the nice switch gear and soft touch materials, and the good metallic paint job, and the LED headlights, and the comfort access, and the Bluetooth... all the stuff you used to have to pay $70K or more to get because it was what supposedly made high-line cars high line.

So MINI manages to snag an old geezer like me who deals with a late mid-life crisis by pushing a MINI around town instead of a Range Rover. But there aren't enough of me out there and, to get us into MINI, the core group that made the brand's initial success possible, and the things they loved about these cars, are left behind.

I think MINI has a future. Electric is part of the plan. Small MINIs from China might happen. Other parts of the world, and their need for small, simpler cars might prop up the business case for the old school MINI.

I am hoping to order another MINI next month, and it will be fully-loaded. And when I turn in my fully-loaded lease return, which is worth less than half of the original MSRP of 3 years ago, somebody is gonna snag my well-loved, low-mileage, fully-loaded $42K 2017 MINI for a song. My apologies to the purists. I'm just another aging yuppie, ruining everything for everyone else so I can have what I want.

 

Very good points. I think that is what is frustrating many of the members of this forum. Then gen 1 MINI was pretty compromised, therefore the only people that bought them were the ones completely obsessed with the driving experience or the ones completely obsessed with the image. Either way that represents two groups of very passionate individuals.

Fast forward to Gen3 and you can have your cake and eat it too. Today's MINIs are super well appointed and still handle better than 90% of the nonsense on the road (partially because the road is filled with full size SUVs and trucks). You still have those two groups of people, either pulled in by the styling or the everyday useable performance (OK maybe some like the heritage too!) but they are less passionate about MINI because they don't have to sacrifice anything to be a MINI owner. This is a good thing! But it does make the brand feel less special somehow.

I was very surprised from reading the article you linked. BMWs EV rollout plan is laughably slow! Starting in 2021 they are releasing an EV in 3 waves and only the final wave competes with a 2016 Tesla. They tried to paint VWs investment in EVs as a foolhardy mistake, but I think they have it backwards. The i3 is a wonderfully modern vehicle, but because of its chassis, not its drivetrain. They might realize that when the MINI SE inevitably flops.

 

Same here.
As much as I would like to see a stripped down MINI available, I love my peaceful cabin, tight/solid feeling countryman with all the toys and room for the whole family.
My biggest complaint about the auto industry over the past 20 years is that all the fun cars are cheap. The lux brands just don't have the personality of something like a Beetle, Soul, Cube, etc. Very rarely.
So it was great to see MINI come on the scene, offer all kinds of customization and a car that is as fun to drive as it is to look at. AND is considered more of a luxury vehicle.

BTW, I used to have a 2004 MCS that was a blast to drive but full of plastics, creaky dash, etc.
My '19 Countryman is night and freakin day different. I stayed away so long because I kept seeing prices climb and thinking back to the quality of the old MCS. So not worth the price.
Well I'm happy to say that BMW really upped its game with the newer generations and created a MINI that actually feels like a BMW.

Still a wee bit pricey on paper, but the extra personality makes up for it vs buying an X1 or even 3 series.

But yes, I would love to see a MINI that got back to its routes and was more stripped down and smaller. I'm just not the buyer for it. Not for a daily driver family car, anyway.

 

The way I see it every family needs one family car and one fun car. Why not two MINIs? ;]

I guess I've been outed as the poor young guy now. Which explains why I drive a $6,000 straight piped Italian runabout and not a MINI. XD

Our family certainly isn't done with MINI yet, I just doubt that I'll ever title one in my name unless it's a classic/R53/R58. OK fine... I would take a good deal on an F56 with the shouty JCW exhaust and suede buckets.... but it would have to be a really good deal.

 

Interesting points....

Think another aspect to the equation is what does it really cost BMW to produce a car including all the R&D, design, production, supply chain manaagement, shipping, marketing, insurance, dealer support, etc.....I don't know what the number is, but I'll bet it's quite a lot when you add it all up.

The next question is sales numbers versus their fixed costs per car metric. If sales are up, then cost per car goes down and company is more profitable, can afford more R&D, maybe make price more competitive or add more value to each car, etc.

On other hand, if sales volume is down, then cost per car metric goes up, right? which puts company in bad spot, because actual costs don't really go down just because sales are down, but to survive or do better than just survive, a company still needs all the same resources, very little can be cut, without impacting current end product or upcoming future products needed to stay competitive. From watching the MINI factory production video, they already use a lot of robots, very lean staffing there it appears. So, are you going to layoff robots to save costs? don't think so....buy cheap steel and risk lots of problems; bad crash ratings, lower brand reputation, etc.....

Meanwhile, government regulations on safety, gas mileage, environmental etc, put more pressure on companies, not less. Some of the safety regs have driven (no pun intended...) the front end re-design to be bigger/taller.....not MINI's fault.....meanwhile, there's the general market forces in what types of cars the 'typical buyer' wants to deal with....

The more I think about it, the car biz is a tough one and seems like MINI is not doing too badly all things considered....not saying there isn't room for improvements.....think there is in some ways...just saying it's complex situation.


Hi poor young guy.......

Hopefully, one day you'll be able to get a MINI....

I just got my first MINI, as I enter ol' geezer territory.....so you have time....maybe you'll get yours while you're still a relative youngster....


In meantime, what Italian runabout do you have? just curious....

 

2013 Abarth 500 in Rosso, because red is always the fastest color.


Super practical garage... Don't judge my dirty cars, this was January in Minnesota!

Size matters. ;]

 

Thanks for sharing.....some nice cars there.....

And red is a fast color....have a friend that has the same 500....he really likes it..... considered this before getting my MINI....but decided it was maybe a bit too mini.....among other reasons...

 

Yeah, primary reasons for not buying a 500 include, safety, refinement, and the rare possibility of needing a 3rd seat for someone with legs. Oh yeah! And driving position! It's like piloting a barstool in there... Reliability concerns aren't a valid reason not to pick the Abarth, but the exhaust might be. The Abarth 124 Spider has an optional valved exhaust, I think it's time the 500 gets one.

I also ride motorcycles so any "cage" is a huge step up in safety, I'm already deaf, and I removed the rear seat to make a tiny wagon. Though, FWIW, while the rear seat was still installed the 500 had more legroom and cargo capacity than our R56. =]

We both dearly miss our true MINI (we don't count the Paceman) but not enough to deal with project car problems on a daily driver. The R61 has been a reliability dream so far *touch wood* so clearly some bugs got worked out between N14 and N18 engines. Also maybe all MINIs should follow the overkill JCW service schedule. XD

 

The American car market is the opposite of Europe. I just got back from a week in England and just under 2 weeks in Portugal. Probably 80% of the cars on the roads were cool small hatchbacks. 10% bigger BMW/Audi sedans, and 10% commercial trucks of all sizes. Very few of the SUVs that clog US roads, and no pickup trucks. I observed the same thing a few years ago in France and Italy. Here at home, I know a mid 20's guy who just bought an F150 - to commute in, of all things. I asked him what the hell were you thinking.

It's all the American mentality and the price of gas. The US market is weird, the demand is for SUVs instead of smaller fuel efficient vehicles. And automakers are responding. Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

There are so many ultra-narrow roads all over Europe, especially in towns and cities. Even commercial delivery trucks and vans are much smaller there.
But, yes, I agree that the whole attitude of huge, gas-hogging cars is completely stupid.

 

Picking up on squawSkiBum's point about the American market being different than in Europe... There are a lot of cool models that you rarely see here or aren't available. The Audi A1, Mercedes A class and BMW 1 series, for example. I'm not even sure which might be available in the US since you never see them on the road. Americans tend to equate luxury with big. In 2008 I bought a new Audi A3 for a song because the dealer couldn't move it. No one wanted a luxury hatchback. Instead, empty-nesters buy 3-row SUVs for who knows what reason. Certainly cheap gas has something to do with it (as has been mentioned) but the gas is just as cheap if you own a small car.

I'm looking forward to retiring and moving to a place where I don't need AWD so I can replace my CM with the smallest MINI I can find.

 

My wife's first car was a BRG MG Midget -- not exactly an engineering marvel, and certainly not the safest vehicle for a teenaged girl's first car. She drove it all over Southern California and off to college, and, believe me, along with my dad's 1958 VW bug, we wish we'd have just put those babies up on blocks and stored them somewhere.

But then, after getting over my SUV phase, I found MINI. May MINI live long and prosper!!

 

Except me. I custom ordered a fully loaded Misano Red 2008 A3 S-Line, complete with roof rails which wasn't even an option listed on the USA order sheet.
Great car. Was so ticked when they got rid of the hatch here in the states.