MINI Countryman!
- Thread starter Breaker
- Start date
That link needs a warning about potential damage to your eyes - what a pile of sh*te :thumbsdown:
BMW really are intent on ripping the a**e out of the MINI brand. Fair play given that it sells, but surely they're really pushing the boundaries of what people will buy with that design? Tragic.
BMW really are intent on ripping the a**e out of the MINI brand. Fair play given that it sells, but surely they're really pushing the boundaries of what people will buy with that design? Tragic.
Problem for Minis is that it's not selling enough cars to remain and independant brand. It has to either sell more or merge back into BMW.
Obvious solution is to keep adding new niche's that people buy. We've now got a whole raft of variants, each caturing a few more 000's of sales.
All credit to the marketers if we're daft enough to buy some of them
Obvious solution is to keep adding new niche's that people buy. We've now got a whole raft of variants, each caturing a few more 000's of sales.
All credit to the marketers if we're daft enough to buy some of them
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lacroupade
Veteran
I'm going to disagree on a few points.
1. I like it.
2. Why does it have to slavishly follow the size/look of the 'new' Mini? Its just a bloody car - there are no rules.
3. It would now compete with a number of similar cars in its sector - Citroen C3 Picasso/DS spring to mind but I'm sure there are others - so why shouldn't they?
4. Its stylish and funky.
I do a weekend commute of 320 miles round trip from Oxford to Carmarthenshire all through the year, in all kinds of crappy weather, and I'd say the 4WD option would definitely put this in a list of contenders for me.
1. I like it.
2. Why does it have to slavishly follow the size/look of the 'new' Mini? Its just a bloody car - there are no rules.
3. It would now compete with a number of similar cars in its sector - Citroen C3 Picasso/DS spring to mind but I'm sure there are others - so why shouldn't they?
4. Its stylish and funky.
I do a weekend commute of 320 miles round trip from Oxford to Carmarthenshire all through the year, in all kinds of crappy weather, and I'd say the 4WD option would definitely put this in a list of contenders for me.
cj10jeeper said:
Mini is doing astonishingly well and is extremely successful. They sold 39,866 cars in the UK alone in 2009. BMW sold 98,683, so Mini comprises 30% of the business...They have 2% market share (5% for BMW). For comparison, fiat (with the 500) have a 3% share of the market, and that's across their WHOLE range, not just the 500...
BMW sells about 100,000 cars a month globally, and 22,000 of those (ish) are Minis. The US market for Minis is smaller than the UK and Germany, and sales are down since 08 across the board, but it's the same for everyone....Mini is thriving, and is an important brand in it's own right - one of the real success stories alongside Sony with the Playstation and Apple with the iPhone. We will never see BMW badged Minis.
All they are doing is expanding a successful brand to increase market share and, basically, make more money....
Sources: http://www.am-online.com/NewCarSalesFigures/ and http://www.motoringfile.com/2009/04/08/mini-worldwide-sales-down-185/
lacroupade
Veteran
Breaker said:easty027 said:
Don't think a persons choice of car makes them a retard? :?
Some would say our choice of cars makes us all hairdressers!
+1 ..... next time you're at a junction easty and nobody lets you out, think on
lacroupade said:Breaker said:easty027 said:
Don't think a persons choice of car makes them a retard? :?
Some would say our choice of cars makes us all hairdressers!
+1 ..... next time you're at a junction easty and nobody lets you out, think on
let me out ? i just pull out living up to the bmw drivers stereotype. true the car choice doesnt make anybody a retard, however that mini still looks shi**.
lacroupade said:Breaker said:easty027 said:
Don't think a persons choice of car makes them a retard? :?
Some would say our choice of cars makes us all hairdressers!
+1 ..... next time you're at a junction easty and nobody lets you out, think on
Actually your right there! I seem to sit in side roads waiting a lot longer to pull into traffic since I've owned a BMW than I ever did when I owned a MINI! :wink:
Car designs change over time, otherwise we'd still all be driving Hillman Minx's. The Mini is a recognizable name from the past and is very marketable in whatever shape it takes. If sales are good it will continue, if not it will disappear. A lot of NA cars went through massive design changes over the years eg: Dodge Charger, Ford Mustang, some worked and some were absolute failures. Give it time....
mikedav said:
Shame typed a response and it never posted :thumbsdown:
I don't deny at all Mini are doing very well, predominantly in a limited number of markets. They are great cars - my daughter has a late Cooper S.
Research I read some time back suggested going forward a sustainable global car producer had to have a minimum of 500,000 annual volume and Mini just does not. It needs it to support R&D, dealer network, etc.
Perhaps the trend is waning for the products too as you can only sell the same retro so long and then have to develop these niches to extend the brand. We now see Citroen advertising 'anti retro'
Combined I can see why they continue to launch ever more niche models, but eventually in 5 or 10 years they'll need to reinvent themselves not just launch more niche models.
Never see a BMW Mini - perhaps not bu maybe sold in their dealerships again. But never say never. who woudl have expected to see the Chevrolet Daewoo' Matiz on sale. A giant US manufacturer reselling a 15 year old Korean mini car.
Just my opinion - no right or wrong here
cj10jeeper said:
It was the head of Fiat I think who was suggesting this? I think he meant more across the whole division; big groups (VAG, BMW Group, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Fiat Auto, etc etc) and further mergers / acquisitions dominating the market. You can have different brands under the same umbrella though - Audi, VW, Skoda, SEAT all in parallel, for example, each tailored to a different demographic...
Fiat are doing something VERY interesting with Abarth; they want it to have a very separate identity to Fiat, so Abarth franchises are being sold a bit like Apple showrooms - low floor space, high street locations...
I agree; Smart are experiencing a similar problem - one trick pony and now it's old hat. The Mini has had 10 strong years a with mediocre competition, but that's changing, and it's becoming too familiar. One thing I would say is that Mini have been very careful not to go the retro route on advertising. The car is of course, but the marketing is anything but. It could have all been Italian Job 1966, harking back to the good old days but instead it's decidedly modern and contemporary.
They need to keep the brand fresh and the Clubman / Countryman seem to be their answer. I don't actually like them either LOL but I can see why they are doing it. Like the Cayenne - a hideous monstrosity but a runaway success for Porsche.
'Never' is possibly a bit strong
, but Mini is highly profitable in it's own right and not likely - any time soon - to be the victim to crazy management decisions like those of GM (which echo those of a certain British Leyland decades before....history repeating itself or what!). The Chevy business model in Europe is crazy.Mini is still sold from a good proportion of BMW showrooms though? More commonly demised to their own buildings now, but on the same site.