In an interview with Autoblog’s Jonathon Ramsey, MINI’s new marketing manager, Tom Salkowski, had some interesting things to say about the landscape of MINI’s competition. Among general comments about MINI’s continued success amidst a growing competition, he reportedly had this to say about Fiat’s 500: “The 500 is a darling little car, but MINI is a premium brand.” This sentiment echoed when asked what other marques are thought of as competition for MINI in the small car segment. “…maybe Volkswagen, Mazda, Scion in the small-car segment,” going on to say that “Mini is very much a mindset, it’s different than other vehicles…for the time being we don’t see anything.” Oliver Friedmann, head of product management, agreed saying, “We don’t see any one-to-one competition, maybe the [Range Rover] Evoque could be [for the R60].” Ramsey goes on to ask about the emotional heritage of brands like Lotus and BMW, asking how big the cars and the brand can get and still be small enough to be considered “mini”. Friedmann replied, “That’s what we try to find out at the moment. We just jumped over the four-meter line with the Countryman,” going on to add that the european reaction to the R60 has been “very positive.” Further adding “The competitors for the Countryman are significantly larger. We will always stay the smallest in the segment.” Catch that last bit? We know that MINI has a lot of future models in the works, and it’s nice to hear the guys at the top saying that small will always be part of the brand DNA. Source - MotoringFile
What else would they say.... Found it interesting in the comment section how some were debating the statement: "premium", and weather or not the Mini was truly a premium vehicle. First one must consider that premium is not luxury. The Mini, especially when it first came out is a premium small car with features unheard of in small cars before our little car changed the market. Before the BMW Mini small cars were seen as basic transportation with few advanced features like ABS, DSC, 6 airbags, great brakes and suspension components and geometry, etc, not to forget an interesting interior with some more upscale features and surfaces.... The new Mini Cooper made the Fiat possible......but I'll keep my MCS, thank you very much.
I'm concerned that MINI is "premiuming" itself right out of the market it created. Don't forget, a large part of what made the MINI attractive was the affordability quotient - that's been largely moving quietly out the door the last few years. When the Coupster, Paceman and Roadster hit - and I think each one will be progressively more expensive - you could see $40K MINIs as the norm! If (when) that happens, it leaves a lot of market room underneath for Abarth 500's and iQ's to pounce on. I seriously doubt there will be any Countryman sold for less than $30K, and most will be $35K or more....they're easing us upward....
Well FIAT is not starting off that great so far... The 2012 Fiat 500, heading to U.S. dealerships later than first expected, is enduring another hiccup: The first units arriving in dealerships in late February will have manual transmissions, the company said. Moreover, only about 20 percent of the 130 Fiat dealerships will be open when those first cars arrive, said Laura Soave, head of the Fiat brand in North America, at the Detroit auto show last week. "We will really start to ramp up in March and April," Soave said. That's when 500s with six-speed automatic transmissions from Aisin Seiki Co. will begin arriving in dealerships. Chrysler expects that most 500s sold in the United States will have automatics.
Couple of ways to look at it..... Without competition.... the natural progression is to continue to raise prices. If competition becomes fierce, cost cutting will take place... The issue then becomes, will we like what gets eliminated from the MINI in the future?
Back in the day(mid 70's) I had a chance at a Fiat, but I got a classic 67 Mini instead. That will likely be a pattern with me unless I can get a; Mark
Thanks Mark Just seeing green grass has made my grey, overcast, snow covered ground day a lot better :cornut:
To bring us semi back on topic..... I present old FIAT's on parade. Old fiat ..: Digital Photography Review
MINI like many other types of products can distinguish itself not only by charging a premium price but also delivering premium product. Its nice to have bells and whistles and bowling shoes you can drive with but when you have repeated problems like cold-start problem, blown clutches, HPFP and dealers that refuse to give the driver the benfit of the doubt, MINI are only going to call itself a 'premium' only because it refers to itself that way, not because reviewers and customers refer to them in those terms. Premium goods that are built to last backed by premium service makes for good value.
Very good point about premium service. Our experience with the service department while under warranty started out well and went to crap very quickly. Now I'd just about rather take a stick in the eye than go there for any work to be done....
The dealer experience IS important, and contributes hugely to the over all "premium" experience - just ask any Lexus owner what their service experience is like. I feel very fortunate that our local MINI dealer is top drawer, I've never had reason to give them anything but 5X5's, but when I read about the travails others have, I wonder how it all could have gone so wrong. Rixter has it right..."Premium goods that are built to last backed by premium service makes for good value." And I might add, repeat and referral customers too...
From what I have read on line tends to indicate that some MINI's have a number of problems and some do not. Some dealers are really bad and some are not. The rattle and window dipper problems were design flaws and were corrected. Is all this really any different with other brands? Jim
What about the MINI would be considered premium? It's BMW's entry-level car....not exactly premium. It's a fun, stylish econo hatch....not that that's a bad thing. It's hardly a premium brand though, IMO.