Most liked posts in thread: Costs put Rocketman at risk

  1. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    #6 minimark, Jun 21, 2011
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2011
    Yep.

    Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your perspective, the R53 and its iterations were designed to be a very interesting specialty car sold in small numbers at select BMW dealerships. It was not designed to appeal to such a broad market as today's Mini. The Mini is almost a victim of it's own early unexpected market success and the bean counters saw big money and went for it. Like it or not, a car built for a broader market will have some of the interesting bits homogenized right out of it.
     
  2. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    #2 Steve, Jun 20, 2011
    High production cost doesn't surprise me at all. In addition to the material costs there are odd and unusual features sure to add complexity. Personally I think they could drop some of the more useless oddness ... that screwy rear door and drawer come to mind. The greater practicality ought to increase interest and the size of the potential buyer population and lower costs a bit at the same time.
     
  3. Rixter

    Rixter Well-Known Member

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    #3 Rixter, Jun 20, 2011
    I think there's a market segment for something smaller than the current R56 but larger than a Smart car. Looking at the new Scion IQ and Aston Martin Cygnet I really like them. The fold down seats make them much more practical for handling even a few groceries. But in that car segment I think people want inexpensive. I dont see the Cygnet getting much traction and if the Rocketman can't be made inexpensively to compete against the IQ I think it will fail too. IMHO
     
  4. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    #4 cct1, Jun 20, 2011
    MINI has always been about making an upscale small car. The question is how small can you go with it? At some point you break that magical barrier where the cost of the car becomes too much for the target audience to bear. That may be the case for the Rocketman, which is really a shame; the concept is well done IMHO.
     
  5. Putttn

    Putttn New Member

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    #5 Putttn, Jun 20, 2011
    I think Mini has gone on a styling decline since the R53. The contoured lines of the 53 were spot on and due to regulations they were saddled with all has changed, and not for the better.
    I'd fire the styling team and get back to what made them so popular. In my opinion the Rocketman is the second ugliest car I've seen in a long time. 1st place is the new Puke...oops I meant Juke. Just my opinion.