MINI (BMW) Sold out!

Isn't that what they're doing with the GP's and JCW's? Of course, they're making up for the lack of options by charging an "exclusivity tax"!

So if I'm reading this right, what you want is for them to offer you a bare bones modifiable car with a minimum of add on options - that's what you think MINI should be today.....and well into the future.

And how many of those a year do you think they'd sell?

I think it would be in the hundreds, cause once they got the hardcore "way it used to be" guys into a new car, no one else would want them. I went thru this with Porsche.....

Lest you all miss MY point, I agree that the cars are getting too big, too optioned and too damn expensive. I also am not sure on the new look - I think they're aiming for the Rocketman" concept front end, which I think looked awful - a little to "Finding Nemo" for me.

But the ever tightening emissions requirements, fuel mileage requirements (R53's when modded sucked gas) and safety requirments make that almost impossible....and I haven't heard of anyone making huge HP in a BRZ since they came out - not saying they can't, but I'm not seeing a huge modifications club on those cars either.

But if they are to survive, they need to go where the market is, I don't think they can make it on the few bare boned cars the enthusiasts want to buy. And if as you say, the profit's in the options, what incentive do they have to sell a few hundred cars a year like that?

As for the bloated BMWs I completely agree......but it's the same problem, they're going where the market is and sales have increased every year since they did.

I mean, who wouldn't want a modern 2002?

I know I would.

Oh wait, I think I already have one......

 

You totally missed my point. I get what they are doing.

What they could do ON TOP OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING is sell a limited number of stripped down, unmodified MINI's, with a stripped down ECU, and the ability to have it. Subaru and Toyota can do it, but BMW can't? The modded R53's are brutal on the track, the R56's can't keep up--if they could be modded, different story. The F56 admittedly might be able to, if they put the 2.0 liter in it, but even then, it'll have a ceiling that I doubt tuners will be able to easily touch. It the very near future, 300HPish R53's on stock ECU's will be rearing their ugly heads. 250HP is already easy on an R53. It's frustrating that the old, outdated R53 is MUCH easier to turn into a beast than the refined R56.

Not a bunch of money there, but it would be a nod to what got them off the diving board. And they would make up for it in press.

GP as a "stripped down" modding platform? GP1 yes. GP2 no.

People are making big HP in the BRZ. You just need to know where to look. It's been turbo'd, and they are definitely getting there.

I am bummed that if I was starting from scratch, I'd have to go to a different platform, or try and find a used R53 in good condition, which is getting increasingly difficult. Hopefully that will never happen.

 

I think most of us get it, but we also realize that there is a difference between selling out and continuing to do business. What I take from the R53er's is that it would have been better for BMW to let MINI die off instead of making the changes that the majority of potential consumer's were asking for.

I believe some else commented on the fact that this is not only a BMW/MINI trend, it is a whole automotive industry trend. Cars keep getting bigger and stuffed with technology and "nannies".

P.S. Wouldn't actually be 2007 since the 'vert was still based on the R53 platform (or do 'verts not count as having a soul).

 

Well then 2008 then too....The vert did go on for 2 years as a 1st generation.

I think we all tend to put that in the back of our minds being the best seller, the hardtop, is the one we tend to think about.

 

Ok fine include the 2007 & 08 "verts" if you really want to pick fly ***** out of pepper.

When the second gen came out MINI lost its soul.

 

I've been saying this for years now that the "Cooper" should have been left alone. If they wanted to make the Clubman, Countyman, Pacemen, Coupe, etc so be it but leave the "Cooper" alone. There is a reason the classic is a classic. It is pretty much left alone over a long period of time. Sure they made a Countryman, a Truck, etc along the way, and I don't see anything wrong with that. All to get more sales... but now the new Cooper is almost as big as the 1st Clubman!!!! As a few more Gens come out down the road they may just have to take the MINI off the name plate!!!!
As has been mentioned above BMW/MINI are missing the bout on having a "tuner" car. It's what most other manufactures have had or are getting into. Civic, Fit, Focus, Fiesta, BRZ, STi, S2000, etc etc...

 

If "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas!

Silly discussion, MINI gonna do what MINI gonna do.

 

Did someone say it is time for a cartoon?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy5f87-kI8c]Bugs Bunny Opera - YouTube[/ame]

 

Seems to me it's go with the market or go out of business.....

I agree with the sentiments that I'd like to see them offer a simpler, lighter, car, but I don't think they could do so and make any money on it......so why do it? (Their perspective)

I thought that was the impetus behind the Rocketman, but it seems they couldn't make a business case to build that either.

 

completely agree, and I have been saying the same thing. Now, I DON't agree with those that say anything other than an MCS is NOT a Mini. That's just being close-minded. Mini coming out with their own quirky take on a small SUV(Countryman), or a small station-wagon(Clubman), is in no way selling out.

It's trying to pull more people into the Mini family and expand the brand-that's just good business. Anyone who says that the Countryman or Clubman are not instantly recognizable as a Mini is just looking to argue for argument's sake.

NOW....when you start taking the Mini inspiration out of the design, whether it's the MCS or the newer model additions, THAT is selling out, in my opinion.

Making the tach a half-moon afterthought on the speedo that now sits front and center(no serious driver's car has the speedo front and center), eliminating the center conical vents in favor of BMW-inspired square shapes, moving the window switches off the center toggle switch pods, changing the design of the auto climate control so that it no longer resembles the Mini logo....

These are the problems I have with Mini, and if they continue, will seriously dilute the brand.

 

I'll throw out there that I am a soul-less one . I have never driven a supercharged MINI nor a classic mini. I drove a base cooper about 5 years ago 1 time just to check it out for my sister in law (who hit a deer in it - the MINI survived surprisingly well).

I got into my 2010 MCS when searching for a newer DD that 1. Was turbo'd 2. Was a manual (absolute requirement) 3. Fun to drive 4. Was modifiable (not after absolute horsepower - I like to tinker, I'm an engineer) 5. The wife approved of (or I wasn't buying it...period....not gonna happen).

I wanted something like my turbo awd talon I'd had years ago. I drove a Juke, an Impreza (not WRX), several R56s, and an a4 when searching for my vehicle. Not a lot of options for a manual tranny if you don't want a civic, mustang, or camaro. The juke and mcs were the same price though the Juke was new. I enjoyed the MINI so much more than the others and found one at the right price.

I didn't realize I was joining a small, but very active and passionate community. I like it. I understand both sides of the argument, but in the end BMW is a business and they exist to make money. We vote with our money in this society and I see several on here have voted not to buy. Unfortunately, many others have voted and they are buying what is out now. I myself would like to see MINI continue even if they don't build exactly what I want. More choices and more competition is good for all of us.

-From a soul-less one.

 

Anyone that says MINI would go out of business if they just kept making the first gen is just silly. Actually it's really stupid.

How do you think they made all the money from the beginning? They took the automotive world by storm buy doing something different and creative and retro cool.

Remember when you could only buy a MINI at a stuck up BMW dealership because they did not there own separate dealership. They were the lower brand and costed less. The car was not over done and that is what made the car special and different with a soul.

Next BMW greed and design stepped in when it was not needed and poof you have the F'ed. 56. Hope you are happy.

 

I guess that confirms I'm silly and stupid.

 

Been lurching on this one for awhile and I'd have to say, how would BMW/MINI go out of business if it kept selling the very dependable R53 platform? The last 4 years of the R53 were rock solid vehicles! Change to the turbo and all it's related problems, that really helps the brand stay alive!

 

^^^^^ Thank God some else understands.

 

So MINI sold 66k vehicles in 2013 in the US, roughly 30k of those were Countryman, Paceman, and Clubbies. Do you think that those people would have still bought a MINI if those models were not offered?

I'm not saying that the R53 wasn't a good platform, just that I don't think that it would still sell in the numbers needed for BMW to keep it in the US market. I do think MINI would survive in Europe because of the fact that they have more versions of the hatchback that appeal to a wider spectrum of potential buyers.

Like I said before it is great that there are enthusiast. There are definitely a lot of great looking first gen Justa, S, and JCWs out there. At the same time, there are very few manufacturers that have not sold out to some extent. I left MINI because they no longer offered a vehicle that fit my needs at what I felt was a reasonable price.

IMO, MINI/BMW have achieved what they set out to do. Re-create a following for a retro version of a cult car that attracts people from many different lifestyles and backgrounds.