Will go out of production next year The sun is about to set on the MINI Coupe and Roadster as MINI USA Product Planning Manager Patrick McKenna has confirmed they will go out of production next year. McKenna didn't have much to say about their deaths but noted both models have run their lifecycles. He added their elimination is part of the company's new “superhero strategy" which plans to put a greater emphasis on high volume models. McKenna declined to say whether or not we could eventually see a successor but previous reports have suggested the company is considering a production version of the stylish Superleggera Vision concept. Source - MINI exec confirms the Coupe & Roadster are dead
"Superhero strategy" and 'high volume model' sounds like board room speak for 'soccer mom - grocery getter appliance'.
They will never succeed with the volume approach unless they expand their distribution channels. (More dealers) They will need to adjust the prices too.
As anal as BMW and MINI USA are regarding dealerships co-locating, I'm expecting that hell freezing over is decades away in our neck of the woods. C'mon man, get over yourselves! Total horse dung.
Next year the F57 Convertible arrives, so it makes sense to stop these last two second generation cars at the same time. I imagine supplying R56 parts to the production line just to make Roadsters and Coupés would be unprofitable.
I would like to know if they were ever profitable? I could probably count on one hand the number of Roadsters/Coupes that I have seen in the wild around C-bus (not counting DH and Tom's) since they came out.
In Ohio I don't think you would see that many but in warm states like Cali and Florida I have seen lots of them out in the wild.
See lots of Caymans/Boxsters and Miatas, so not buying the logic that it is a warm weather car. Besides, it can't be that different than a hardtop/vert in the cold and there are plenty of them in Ohio.
MINI left a bad taste in my mouth after they paraded the Roadster around for 2 years and then once it came out it had a different front bumper, no color matched wheels, etc, etc.. At one point I wanted one in a bad way. Still somewhat thinking I'd like to have a Coupe in black to help hide the "hat" but they missed the boat there as well as it gained weight instead of losing it.. I know I know it's because it still has all the bracing the Roadster has and which supposedly makes it a decent track car but still a diet of a few hundred pounds would help it on the track as well. MINI/BMW just plan screwed up with both of these cars in my view.. and they seem to realize it by dropping them..
I'd say the number$ don't justify building F56 coupes & roadsters. I'm sure there are not many being sold. I've only seen a few coupes in the wild & have yet to see a roadster. They'll replace these with more chunky $UV things they call MINI.