PLACE YOUR BETS! Is It Only A Matter Of Time Before It's OVER For MINI Or Can It Come Back And Prosper?

Years ago, BMW Group's MINI division was a lightning rod. That's because gas prices were sky high and consumers were seeking refuge by snapping up gas sippers.

Fast forward to today though and it's a completely different world. 10 years makes quite the difference.

Gas prices are off their highs and have stabilized. Small cars are no longer en vogue and buyers are lining up for the BIGGEST and the best. Oh, and MINI's product lineup is stale.

So, now what?

Last year the British small car manufacturer was aiming to sell about 100,000 units. For the first 10 months of 2018 though, it's only moved just over 37,000 units. "Missing the mark," would be an understatement.

We want you to place your bets: Is it only a matter of time before it's OVER for MINI or can the brand come back and prosper? What say you, Spies?

...It might also be a milestone in the struggling brand's saga. The marque, which expected annual sales of 100,000 cars by 2017, peaked at about 66,500 in 2013. Through the first 10 months of this year, sales totaled just 37,359. That is hardly enough to support the investments of retailers who opened 127 free-standing Mini stores since 2008 at the factory's request...

..."You've got a small product line — all small cars — in a strong SUV market," said Willis, general manager of fixed operations at Willis Auto Campus in Des Moines, Iowa. "Our product doesn't match the demand..."

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PUGPROUD - 11/6/2018 5:24:16 AM

0 Boost

Mini once was a mainstream brand when small European cars were most popular. It was affordable, had great utility because of its design, was the underdog everyone loved winning rallies against high performance cars, and was adored by celebrities and Hollywood which made it hip to own at the time. But times have changed. BMW tried to make it a mainstream brand at high prices when in reality to succeed and survive in today's SUV driven market it likely should be a low volume specialty brand like Morgan appealing to a small hard core group of Mini enthusiasts.

Car4life1 - 11/6/2018 11:29:29 AM

+2 Boost

Well, get ready for the X1/X3 based Mini SUV folks....time to pay some bills

TomM - 11/6/2018 7:35:51 AM

+3 Boost

Mini is a European thing - was never really a big deal here in the USA - and at those sales levels - the cost of supporting Mini as a standalone car dealership is simply not worth it. Maybe they could pick up TVR to sell a few more cars - OOPS - TVR has no new cars to sell.

Reality - even combining them with BMW - would not be worth the effort.

MDarringer - 11/6/2018 8:14:08 AM

-4 Boost

You take the cake for being ignorant and stupid.

MDarringer - 11/6/2018 8:13:43 AM

-1 Boost

Mini needs to be branded with BMW and have an abbreviated line-up rather than a full-brand array. THAT is as it should ALWAYS have been.

Truthy - 11/6/2018 8:47:01 AM

+2 Boost

Like the Beetle, it was a "cute" impractical car. Unlike the original, it was expensive.
It should have been sold in a small section of the BMW showroom.

OneOfOne - 11/6/2018 9:57:52 AM

+2 Boost

germans dont sell many small cars. the ones that sell are not niche looking so they should just withdraw from the US market

mre30 - 11/6/2018 5:32:09 PM

0 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 - 11/6/2018 6:26:04 PM

0 Boost

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

carloslassiter - 11/7/2018 7:26:03 PM

+2 Boost

It'll be fun to see the same guys who told us about Telsas's imminent bankruptcy over the last couple of years now just as confidently typing their Mini predictions.