I HOPE NOT. I GOT MY MCS IN EARLY AUGUST AND SAW VERY FEW MC'S AND MCS' ON THE ROAD. NOW I SEE THEM MORE FREQUENTLY ON THE HIGHWAY, AROUND TOWN, ON FLATBED TRUCKS FOR DELIVERY, ETC.
I LIKE KNOWING THAT MY MCS IS UNIQUE ONE OF A FEW AND SOMEWHAT OF A "NOVLETY" BUT NOW THAT THEY'RE POPPING UP EVERYWHERE I'M BEGINNING TO FEEL A PART OF A LARGE CROWD INSTEAD OF AN ELITE FEW. I LIKE THE SMALL POOL OF MC AND MCS OWNERS. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK? I HOPE MINI KEEPS A STRICT PRODUCTION NUMBER TO MAKE THE MINIS ONE OF A KIND!!!

 

MINI is a business - if it weren't for the fact that they can only produce 100k cars a year from the one plant running 3 shift 24/7 days they would certainly produce as many as they could possibly sell. They (bmw/mini) are not attempting to artificially keep down the numbers - they just literally can't pump out more.

Expect at least another year or so of 10k units in the US - originally MINI thought they'd be shipping about 10% of that 10k as Cooper S cars to the states - but there is HUGE demand for an S while they are already seeing a backlog of some of the regular Coopers on lots in the US. So, as a result - they'll ship more S into the country.

Don't want to dissapoint you, but you'll see a lot more MC and MCS on the road and MINI would love to ship even more over the pond but they just can't produce them fast enough to really strike while hte iron is hot and they are the car of the moment. So, in the mean time - find your caps lock key and get over the loss of yours being the only MCS you see in a day.

-dq

 

First off, WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?


" I HOPE MINI KEEPS A STRICT PRODUCTION NUMBER TO MAKE THE MINIS ONE OF A KIND!!!"
if this were the case, don't you think they'd have an MSRP well north of 30K so that they could make some money off of their product?
Car companies are in the business to make money. The more cars they sell, the more money they make.

 

Read todays article, Monday, Oct 28th in the Business Section of USA...very amusing read about how every hot new car, especially the lower priced retro cars like the Bug, PT Cruiser and now the Mini....are easier to sell out for dealers when they first come out than the cars that have been around awhile like the Acura RS, Civic, etc, but once the novelty wears off they then become much harder to sell than those same cars...interesting article as they show the days on the lot which started at 9 days for the bug and PT Cruiser going now to 74 plus days on the lot. The mini started the same in March/April at 9 days and has now progressed to 15 days. They also show how the discounts drop from start to finish....they had a picture of the mini on the page and tabbed it the newest hot car, but strongly advised waiting a year or two till the inventory sat on the lots and the discounting occurs which it will enivitably do, but then again said these type of cars are bought on emotion which doesn't include waiting for impulsive buyers which I guess includes me....at least I didn't pay over MSRP which I have never been able to understand, that's real impulsiveness...interestingly the new TBird is already starting to sit on lots and may be a real tuff sell in a couple years. I guess what was most interesting is that very few buyers of the retro cars return to buy the same car again, they move on to the new hot car......sounds to me like BMW knows exactly what it is doing by limiting the number of minis coming into the states....because next year's demand most likely will not be the same as this year with the new baby bimmer coming out and other new retros to slice up the pie still smaller...interesting read !

 

While I like the new beetle, I never though of it as a driver's car. I'd put the MINI in the same boat as the WRX or something like that rather than the PT Cruiser.

A couple of old british guys from next door came over to see it, and talk about their old coopers from days ago. We also had an impromptu neighborhood party in the street when all the neighbors finally got to see MINI.

Funniest comment from a little girl: Is that one of those new electric cars?

We ate brunch Sunday at Java Jive in Atlanta. Three MINIs in the parking lot while we were there! (It's a retro hipster hang, so to be expected.)

If they become common at least parts will be easier to come by!

Motorin'

Jeff

 

Well, it's actually sort of possible to use this forum as a way to judge the validity of what has been said in the thread thus far (i.e., that MINI novelty will pass).

When this topic came up about 4 months ago, there was a rather big -- and strongly worded -- response immediately that MINIs would NEVER become common and that it would be years before they sat on lots and/or sold for less than MSRP. This, mind you, was several months before end of the first US model year and was about 1/2 way through the sales of the 16K cars that BMW imported to the US.

So, here we are now with a full model year sold and indicators that BMW/MINI is indeed a car company that is selling as many cars as they can... and as various posts have indicated, you CAN buy a MINI off the lot and except for certain geographic areas, it's not necessary to wait 6 months or more for delivery. Further, no one actually disagreed with the original poster.

None of this diminishes the enthusiasm that most of us have for our cars, but it is quite interesting to watch the evolution.

 

It doesn't matter to me. I bought the car b/c I love it - NOT b/c it is the hottest thing. That's why I didn't buy a New Beetle or PT Cruiser. I'm not into that "retro" thing either. I love my MCS b/c of the incredible car that it is. I couldn't care less if 20 people in the U.S. drove it or 20 million. I wish more people would drive smaller, more manueverable cars! I'd LOVE IT!

I DO enjoy people staring at my car, pointing and asking me questions. But that is NOT why I love my car. Not even in the top ten.

Now I wouldn't want several of my neighbors all having DS/W MCSs with my wheels. But if there were several MINIs on the block that were different - I'd love it!

Long live MINI. The best part is, my MCS really is my favorite car in the world - at ANY price. There really is no other car I'd rather have. And although I've had several new sports cars in the past, I've never felt this way before.

 

I beleive that we will never see a lot of these cars on the market. The old bug and Mini as well were the cheapest cars one could get at the time, they were the new generation cars which is not the case anymore, you know the new clientele...
I really like my MCS, I do not think however that PT, New Beetle or MINI will be icons in their actual form, if MINI would have been built with the handling it has, maybe not as luxurious it is, but at an entry price of $9900, then it would be different.
We will be a minority forever the way it was marketed

 

This is a tricky subject. Personally, I feel that the clientelle for the MINI is more for driving enthusiasts, of course I cannot prove that assumption. The production numbers (so far) are considerably lower than other cars... and the MINI isn't really a very practical vehicle (now don't get all pissy about it, you know its true... its too small to really be good for a family or a hauler), its more for just one or two people to enjoy a high performance, yet not insanely fast machine that can be driven daily. I have owned a New Beetle, and I feel it was a more practical car than my Mini... it had more rear space (not much...) and more cargo room... but it simply just isn't as cool. Now, my brother's PT Cruiser is one of the most versatile vehicles we have ever owned. That thing can be rearranged in a million different ways to fit whatever you want inside. Great for hauling our 3 German Shepards.

So anyways, it doesn't really matter how common the Minis will become. I still feel that they will not be an extremely common vehicle, and that the owner pride will continue on. Guess we'll just have to see what happens to them when the next new cult car is released. But I will always, ALWAYS love my Mini unconditionally, hands down, end of story... it is simply the most fun vehicle I have ever owned... right to the point that if my mom wants to drive it for the day and offers me her Jaguar XJS convertible... I turn her down. I even prefer it over our '66 Jag XKE. That says something, especially for a car that starts at $16k, doncha think?

 

To say the Mini is just a car is not to understand it. It is a drivers car and
I'd rather drive it than a Formula Car. Seriously. There is nothing that
compares to the handling characteristics of the Mini. Nothing.

 

>>MINI is a business - if it weren't for the fact that they can only produce 100k cars a year from the one plant running 3 shift 24/7 days they would certainly produce as many as they could possibly sell. They (bmw/mini) are not attempting to artificially keep down the numbers - they just literally can't pump out more.
>>
>>Expect at least another year or so of 10k units in the US - originally MINI thought they'd be shipping about 10% of that 10k as Cooper S cars to the states - but there is HUGE demand for an S while they are already seeing a backlog of some of the regular Coopers on lots in the US. So, as a result - they'll ship more S into the country.
>>
>>Don't want to dissapoint you, but you'll see a lot more MC and MCS on the road and MINI would love to ship even more over the pond but they just can't produce them fast enough to really strike while hte iron is hot and they are the car of the moment. So, in the mean time - find your caps lock key and get over the loss of yours being the only MCS you see in a day.
>>
>>-dq


FYI, MINI has sold approx. 24,000 in the USA to date.......

 

The MINI is much more than just another "retro" econo box like the PT cruiser and the New Beetle. It has something for everyone: The 55+ year old lady I saw driving a Cooper in Denver, The 6 year old kid who pointed and said "look mommy" at my S-car today, the girls who say "it's so cute!", the boys who want to know how fast it will go, the Boxter driver who is impressed with the performance... The car is an economy car with 15"s in Cooper trim, and a real performance car with 17"s in S trim. Brilliant. I have tested the limits of this car's grip (in the week that I have owned it) and found a better handling car than other much more expensive cars I have driven, with better fuel economy, and far lower initial price. The chassis stiffness is particularly impressive. I'm sure many other Cooper drivers have found that this is a cute, (relatively)cheap, solid, reliable, safe, fun little car. The car is fine for two people to go on a road trip(with real luggage), and is even capable of comfortably hauling four full-sized adults around town. Try to do that in a Porsche. Absolutely brilliant. It took a company like BMW, with the capitol, engineering, and the guts to build such an inexpensive package, and I'm glad they did it. I don't know why I'm going on like this, all of you know what I'm talking about. Some people will buy this car for the cuteness factor, and some will buy it for the performance. It stands on it's own in either catagory. BMW has recreated an icon, and this time it is catching on in the US. As it is, this car is a coux for BMW. If the John Cooper Works kit is really going to give the S 90 more horsepower (or even 50 more...), this car will really be a revolution
P.S. I didn't think I would ever like a front wheel drive car, but this one is so good I hardly notice. It is very impressive to me how they have virtually eliminated torque-steer. We'll see how it acts with more horsepower

 

All I can say is I bought it because I liked it and after 5000+ miles it is STILL an E ticket ride! I have owned about 15 cars according to my insurance company four are still out in the drive way from PU to soft top 4 banger to a V8 classic none of them can put a smile on my face as fast as my MCS. I do have to admit after 40+ years of doing my own thing it was quite disturbing to find out I'm suddenly trendy. As a person that tends to keep to myself My wife is laughing her butt off cause I'm the one holding us up in the parking lot talking now. Oh well. what does she know she drives a minivan!

 

Like many others, I could care less about the # of MINIS I see later. This car is a blast to drive and own. Will the "novelty" ever wear off? How many commercials do you think BMW will be running in the forseeable future? Say what you will concerning the media, it's still the little screen that affects the masses. If the price of the car drops in the next year or so, I'm still a happy camper. A solid model year of production, and still the "Average Joe" has no idea of the car's origin, etc. Just my 2 Lincoln's.