Mini May Be Allowed To Shack Up Inside BMW Dealerships To Survive

Sluggish sales for Mini — BMW's bold 16-year-old venture to entice Americans into stylish British small cars — have become a crisis.

To overcome Mini's meager product pipeline and stem dealer losses, BMW of North America confirms it is considering letting Mini dealers move operations into their BMW stores.

That could help Mini dealers defray operating costs and real estate overhead by sharing backroom expenses. But not every Mini dealer is a BMW dealer.

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scenicbyway12 - 11/5/2018 2:42:01 PM

+7 Boost

If MINI was properly priced (30% less if not more) they wouldn't have to do this.

PUGPROUD - 11/5/2018 3:29:42 PM

-1 Boost

While I totally agree with the above comment on Mini pricing, combining showrooms has many benefits...reduced costs, greater perceived quality (justifying Mini prices), lower cost choice for customers who go to dealership and suffer BMW sticker shock and greater profit potential for dealers.

mre30 - 11/5/2018 6:48:49 PM

+3 Boost

Mini is basically a 'dead brand' at this point. The attempted expansion into "medium" and "mini-bigger" has basically failed.

It makes no sense in something branded "Mini" to sell things that are not Mini.

If it loses money, BMW should shut it down - else it could be BMW's EV brand instead of that stupid "i" brand.

BMW is so lacking clear thinkers that its product lines and marketing is just a muddled mess.

MDarringer - 11/5/2018 10:29:04 PM

+1 Boost

Mini should NEVER have been made to be a stand-alone brand, but should have ALWAYS been a brand sold through BMW dealers. NOT selling Mini in BMW dealers in markets not big enough to support a stand-alone Mini store just left sales on the table. BMW could have also resurrected Triumph to be their near-premium purveyor of sedans (BMW 1 Series), small crossovers, and a TR4/6 (populist version of the Z4). That would have dramatically increased the revenue for BMW dealers without downgrading their image.

dumpsty - 11/6/2018 12:15:58 PM

+1 Boost

Selling MINI's inside of BMW dealerships - death spiral for MINI sales.

They better have distinct sales staff to greet & handle customers. I wouldn't expect the "distinguished" BMW sales staff to bother with MINI product inquiries.

Side Note: I've always wanted a loaded Countryman All4 - even more since it's basically an X2/X3.