MINI Launches Customer Customizable 3D Printing And Laser Etching Program

Yay now the divorcees can spend more of their ex-husbands' money in addition to Starbucks and yoga.

This will drive some fully optioned and personalized Mini prices close to or above $50,000 with taxes... a lot of money for a small low powered car. Don't get me wrong...I loved driving the Mini Roadster I had but to spend close to or over $50,000 is now crazy.

Old women love these things. That is their biggest demographic.

The demographic is all over the place actually. I wouldn't call it a brand for older people (too low slung and hard to get in and out of) and insurance drives away teens. Most that I know are in their late 20's to early 40's and want something fun.

That group will spend bucks to be different.

Your anecdotal observations notwithstanding, the largest group within Mini buyers are women over age 40.

The local Mini club here is split pretty evenly, but that is just an owners club. from Forbes a while back:

Mini owners are a tough bunch to pin down, demographically speaking, since the car has broad appeal.

"It's a certain mindset," says Nathalie Bauers, spokeswoman for Mini USA. "People who relate to the brand, there's no age to that."

Bauers says Mini owners fall into four categories: brand enthusiasts, who relish the car's British racing roots; design aficionados, who like the car's simple elegance; social butterflies, who want to be part of the Mini community; and gas misers, who crave the Mini's fuel efficiency.

Again, you anecdotal observations notwithstanding, we did due diligence on acquiring a Mini franchise. Whenever you do that, you look at the demographics to see how the dominant segments of a brand's profile are being served and whether your market has room in it for another contender.

Middle-aged women approached nearly half of the customer base. The grip locally by Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, and BMW was just too strong for that demographic.

The next big chunk (roughly half that of middle-aged yoga queens) were young urban professionals and we have none of those.

Gay men were also a significant subgroup, but we aren't San Fran or Palm Springs.

In the end, Mini made no sense to acquire.

Nathalie Bauers is in public relations aka advertising, so of course she is going to paint Mini as a "universal" brand that caters to a "cool" mindset because that's how you sell cars. If she said "Our brand caters to middle-aged women as our biggest customer base segment" that would kill potential sales.

So instead, she says something vague and intangible.

By saying this BS: "brand enthusiasts...design aficionados...social butterflies...and gas misers..." She was doing a COMMERCIAL.

One of the things Mini has perpetually tried to market against is the notion that Minis are chick cars given how many women are in their customer base.

MDarringer vs. Agent 009. Now it's getting interesting!

009 talked to the pretty PR girl and I was privy to the business case...two sides of the same coin. I wouldn't invest in a Mini dealership at this juncture, but 009 wasn't faced with allocating that level of money, so it's all good.