A press release from BMW is posted here on MotoringFile:

http://motoringfile.com/2007/07/04/m...p-17-for-june/

Sales day adjusted percentages for all marks are posted here on Autoblog:

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/03/b...ers-june-2007/

And GB Mini typically posts a detailed breakdown here (but it was not up yet at the time of posting):

http://www.gbmini.net/wp/mini_sales/

Interesting - total sales numbers for the year are nearly caught up to same time last year which reflects faster sales in the months following the R56 launch when there were no new cars coming in.

Discuss, enjoy, gloat, stew as you wish.

 

That sounds reasonable. Some folks took the early dive and ordered their cars despite some of the early production problems that U.K. buyers experienced from the November launch.

Others waited a bit so they could see an R56 in person before ordering. And now, with new models out on the road and in showrooms, along with Mini's marketing campaigns, many new buyers are being drawn in.

 

Interesting to some....kind of a "watched pot never boils" thing to me. MINIs are great!!!

 

Well, it seems BMW's early predictions about sales increases in the Mini line are still on track. Looks good for Mini. And I am glad to see it.

Solid sales can only lead to better things down the road for the Mini. It would be cool to see a Mini in every driveway on my block. All those Mini's and ont one of them the same. And that is cool.

 

But BMW wouldn't want to drive down the PT Cruiser road. Where Chrysler couldn't make enough of them the first couple of years, when people liked the retro look. Then, after a while, it seemed like every fourth vehicle was a PT Cruiser.

People got tired of them and now Chrysler is having a hard time moving them. Sales are down 25 percent from last year.

Mini would hate to have the market get oversaturated and have people look for another cool car.

 

Actually, not so cool. MINIs are already ubiquitious here. I see them everytime I go out. Not like it was 3 years ago. The more on the market, the more the glut of used cars, the harder for resales. 40K US sales/year is pretty high. Its approaches the level where a major manufacturer can start making them (as Sowell mentions). For example, Toyota, I believe, had to cut off MR2 production when the sales numbers dropped below 50K/year because it was no longer worth the effort to make them

Small production numbers = more rare a car. I think part of the appeal of any MINI is the "youification" thing and you can make it unique. If you see one around every corner ... it becomes ... a Mustang (in terms of popularity).

Less sales should actually be better for retaining value. Then again, if you dont care about resale (which you most likely will one day), it dont matter

 

 

YEAH for MINI be it R 53 or R 56

What a wonderful car and what a wonderful company I hope it makes all the stockholders lots of money.

 

Don't forget our friends with R50s or R52s.

 

I sorry and them also GREAT cars.

 

Chows, no doubt your analysis is correct, but what of it. Do we not buy cars so we keep resale up? How do we coordinate that? Who gets to buy - who does not..? I guess we are at BMW's whim here and the days of scarcity are gone. Time will tell how bad resale gets. And for the people who like their Mini for the exclusiveness I'm afraid there is no console. Times change.

mozzeralla really, spare us the patronizing posts.

 

This thread is beginning to degenerate in lovers and haters just as the previous thread which I started and was finally shut down.

 

I don't see how anyone could say...or is saying...that good MINI sales is a bad thing. If people like MINIs they'll buy them! If not they'll walk away...and there are probably lots who do (as there always have been).

Thanks for alerting us to the latest report!

 

It's a complicated issue. Would you really want everyone to drive a Mini? Any more than you would want everyone to wear the same kind of shirt, pants and shoes that you do? Or the same style of home?

Traffic in Hong Kong seems so boring because most of the passenger vehicles are black Mercedes (what the locals call Ben-Zees). Very little variety. Other than the red Toyota taxis, which also all look alike.

That's precisely why Minis stand out there, because they're the exception rather than the rule.

Having too many Minis anywhere would devalue the brand in a certain respect.

 

Seriously - are you even reading the posts? Or does the minute someone say something vaguely cynical and critical you throw your hands up in the air and cry that the party's being ruined.

Chows brought up a good point and Greg countered with an equally good point. Or are you referring to Mozzarella's comment that all Minis are great cars and the community is great? Are we starting to see things that aren't there - are we at the point where an innocent comment gets dissected and spun until it becomes a sinister one?

Where's the issue? Where's the hater?

 

I see your point but I disagree.

The market has been there since the beginning so it should be no surprise that the new model is selling more units. For five years it was production that limited sales. Increasing capacity opened up the market it a bit.

I no longer own a Mini but as an enthusiast, a selfish part of me wants to see my marque of choice be both successful and exclusive - and yes I think you can achieve both.

One of the high points for the new Mini, aside from it's styling, it's being different and it's fun factor was the amazingly high resale value. If you flood the market with Minis a couple of not so desireable things happen:

(1) Your car no longer becomes so different when everyone on your block has one.

(2) The car will most likely lose it's high resale value as the market gets flooded with them.

(3) and this is a personal bias - the exclusivity factor becomes non-existent.

 

Very few Mini buyers care about resale, nor do many buyers of other cars (only fleet buyers care about it). The R56 model is selling well compared to the R50-53. Noone should be surprised at that. More exposure gets more buyers. And the car has had excellent reviews from both mags and owners, so who wouldn't expect the R56 to outsell the R53? It's still 10K cheaper than a BMW 330, and not much different to drive (but smaller inside).
Skiploder's 1,2,3 points above will never be valid because the Mini sales will never approach 10% of the Corollas and Civics at least in the US. The resale price for rarer cars is set by supply and the fewer cars for sale the higher the resale price (Econ 101).

 

Again - nobody should be surprised that the R56 is selling well - the only thing that has preventing Mini from selling more cars over the past 5 years is production limitations. There was no logical reason to doubt that if they could up capacity that they would sell more cars.

....and I disagree with you about resale value. Do a search on this site with the keyword "resale" and see how many people it really is important to. You may not care about it - but I do, Chows does and I would hazard a guess that anyone who plans on selling their car at some point also does.

 

I really do not think you can compare a Mini to a PT. Special ordering an American car tkaes an act of Congress. You are normally stuck with what they want you to have. The whole process is the same as any other American car.

There is certainly good and bad with higher volume sales. Higher volume sales can mean lower costs of parts, or better quality parts for the same price. Better/Improved parts distribution. Better/Improved dealer network.

I think Mini's, as a vehicle, is unique enough it does not matter how many there are on the road, as they should be all different. Expanded volume puts more onus on BMW/Mini to offer a higher number of paint/interior options in order to help keep them unique. Something Chrysler failed miserably with the PT.
There is an old adage/cliche'. If a business is not growing, it is dieing.

Mini has a long way to go before it hits critical mass.

 

This wasn't the point of my post, intentionally so. It's a far cry between "MINI sales are up" and "everyone will drive a MINI and resale will drop." It's a simple sales figure...and it says more about MINIs overall health and sustainability as a brand than anything negative. The OP reported a benign little factoid found on MotoringFile....one that is reported almost every month. Lets not get overconsumed (a little consumed is fine...we have to talk about something!) and blow the whole thing way out of proportion. The sky is not going to fall and we have every reason to view the brand with optimism.

 

The big question is how many Mini's have to be sold before resale drops significantly. Can Mini even achieve that tipping point with their single manufacturing facility?

Before there was clearly not enough production to meet demand, and resale was high. When demand is met can we expect resale values to behave like other cars? My guess is it will still outperform the averages. Making a big concern out of it just seems to be bordering on ridiculous. You want to discuss economic theory? Sure, values may drop, probably very little. You are worried about your exclusiveness? Can't quantify that. Silly to some, atomic bomb to others. We've certainly witnessed the range of emotional reactions.

 

Well, personally I think it's exciting news.

 

Me, too! It'll be interesting to see how much of a dealer's allocation will be MC coupes, MCS coupes, cabrios, or Clubmans. We may actually see allocations skew a bit per model with four variants all coming from one plant, especially if indications that Plant Oxford is pretty much topped-out already for production are true. As has been said....add to that that each MINI is pretty much unique!!!

I consider myself lucky to be involved with such an fascinating (especially given Mini history) and dynamic (from '02 on) marque.

 

Whoa Greg - I was addressing Skuzzy's hope of seeing a Mini in every driveway and a clubman in every pot.

At 4K units a month, resale values should NOT drop significantly unless the car isn't selling well new.

 

Don't know how it was at other dealers, but the dealer around here had a large inventory of R53s at the time that Consumer Reports was telling us that the Prius and the MINI Cooper are number 1 and 2 in resale value.

Actually, I sold my Prius to buy my R56. Before selling my Prius, Toyota dealers started getting quite a lot of Prius inventory (until then there was always a waiting list). My fear was the same as yours but response to my ads was surprisingly good and I got a good price.