Mini News Most liked posts in thread: MINI exec confirms the Coupe & Roadster are dead

If anybody is surprised I will be shocked...
Both from a pure logistical standpoint of ending gen2 derivatives, and the ending of a seemingly failed car from a pure volume standpoint.
Yes, it will be missed by many, but like many cars built on a mildly modified chasis of a bigger brother, they were flawed due to compromises made, mostly around keeping a high enough parts commonality to allow them to be built on the same production line with the lowest development costs possible....
Besides...they need showroom space for the new MINI...it is...er..."large and in charge!!"
I just hope the next car, after the 5 door, is not the MINI VAN, sold in two lengths, naturally, MAXI and mini....

 

The buying auto public confirms, MINI uniqueness is dead and sales show they are also dying.

 

That's WHY Porsche and BMW made the boxster (and now the Cayenne) and Z4...
CHEAPER to get the wife a sexy car when she catches you in the sack with her "best" friend than to say "sorry" than getting a divorce.....
I'm only half kidding....:ihih: worked with a guy who....

 

That would seem logical, that being the migration spot for MINIs. In my hunting area I can only tell you of one, maybe two, but i think that one has flown the coop.

 

If MINI wants to make a replacement for the coupe and roadster it should be one car with a retractable hard top. This last gen Miata had a 60% take on the version. Plus it's cheaper to make one car to do both things.

 

I have always liked the Roadster but wont buy one.

 

Are you drinking or do you just have no taste Rick? :lol:

 

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.

 

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..

 

Now a 'REAL' GP tribute Coupe I would consider.....

 

" 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."

Ok, I am not the fastest Hotwheels on the track but don't these two paragraphs seem, I don’t know, CONTRADICTING!:mad2::mad2::mad2: Don’t get me wrong I for one would like to see the Superleggera hit the streets, right behind the Rocketman. What does MINI see in the Superleggera that makes it a possible high volume model? It can’t be the minimalist approach used on the concept, which contradicts everything the "in crowd" is looking for. Not big enough for Soccer Moms and it sure don’t babysit the kids or call the hubby and every other person on her contact list. Why, because it is a two seater and it didnt have a “In-Car Entertainment System†either.

 

What two cars did we see alot at the Dragon? Coupe & Roadsters...

 

See a lot yeah but more then the standard 3 door hatch not hardly.

I would say if you added up all the Coupes, Roadsters, CM's and Clubmans the 3 door hatch would still out numbers them all. (R53,R56 and the two aweful F56 demos they had last year)

 

I built my 2012 Coupe on-line in 2011 after having seen a commercial on Mini USA. Who knew I'd own a classic? Not me. Oh well, I love my MINI just the same.

 

Bottom line, there is no large market for 2 seaters, it's nothing new and that doesn't mean they don't exist or don't have a purpose . . . which makes a lot of people jealous :cornut:

But who cares how many you sale. These are great cars and as derivative of common chassis didn't cost nearly as much to develop as the bread and butter segment. They should be considered cherry on the cake because of it. Logics says get read of the low selling quantity models first. But in this case I say keep those until you've significantly cut down on the bread and butter of same species. If you don't sell a lot of them you probably aren't going to help your finances by that much anyway and you are probably not hurting that badly from them.

They were the latest model variant made. They should be the latest taken out or at least once the more popular platforms are canceled.

But whatever, decision has been made...
I'm so glad we got ours on time and I'll be sad not to see it in the MINI product line for a long time.

ps: Z4 is too expensive. The coming Z2 concept a bit ugly (talk about a Miata want to be, strange for BMW), and the Miata is too cheap, unrefined, and cramped for daily use. MINI roadster was the perfect balance for us. But I guess not the most popular segment either :nonod:

Lastly weather shouldn't be that much a factor. We live in the north east. It get's quite cold and snowy in the winter and we drove 60% of the time top down last year. We had a blast. Two seats is really the part people can't justify. It's that simple and understandable.
My suggestion for the next one would be, make it an hybrid. Build a convertible that has roadster qualities but can be quickly reconfigured into a 4/5 seater for occasional use. Let's face it. Most convertible I see around are rarely filled with many passengers. It happens and is a need but most of the year back seats are for bags. Meanwhile trunk space is an everyday necessity. My 2ç