Yesterday we shared a story from Advertising Age about how MINI is expanding its Not Normal campaign. According to the AA story, MINI is intensifying their marketing efforts because “competition has started to ding the brand as rivals like Chevy introduce a widening array of small, fuel-efficient cars.” That Chevy they’re... (visit MotoringFile for the full article) More...
Honestly, I think the only competition MINI has is itself. Fiat didn't get as much market share as they had hoped, The Japanese have been making small, fuel efficient high quality small cars the day after the wheel was invented; U.S. carmakers have been in the segment too, but no one has really put the luxury/performance/uniqueness factor (notice I left out quality?) better than MINI, and I still don't see any real threats, at least yet.
I personally think any of the newer sporty cars are their competition as we have seen people leave MINI for the FR-S, Focus, Miata, Veloster, most of which are cheaper in price then a mildly equiped MINI S...Keep in mind that to most people the MINI like most other cars are "just-a" cars to them. We the enthusiast are not the majority, in the car market..