Last summer there were celebrations marking “10 Years of MINI in the USA”. By the end of the year congratulations were in order once again: the British premium brand had broken a new sales record in the USA after delivering 66,123 MINI models in the course of 2012 – a jump of 15 per cent over the previous year. With these figures, the “land of opportunity” has made a significant contribution to MINI’s new record-breaking global sales total of 301,526 units. Yet again the USA has emerged as the world’s number one market for small and compact vehicles sporting the MINI badge.
Within the United States, MINI enjoys a resounding popularity on the West Coast in particular. The West sales region, which includes the states of California and Nevada, recorded 21,505 newly registered MINIs last year. In California, which accounts for around one in four of all MINIs sold in the USA, the market share is commensurately high. Peak figures were achieved in upmarket Los Angeles, where MINI notched up a slice of 9 per cent of sales in the competitive field, followed by the San Francisco region with 8.2 per cent. Across the USA as a whole, the MINI market share currently lies around the 6.7 percentage mark.
Credit for the growth rates in global MINI sales must also go to the ongoing expansion of the model range. Boasting 102,250 units sold – around a third of total sales – the MINI Countryman played a pivotal role in the record results of 2012. In the USA, the MINI Countryman’s share in the brand’s overall success is similarly large: 21,012 vehicles from this model range found buyers in the USA in 2012. It reflects a clear trend towards powerful engines and the ALL4 all-wheel-drive system. The MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL4 was the most popular model variant with sales of 8,223 units, followed by the MINI Cooper S Countryman, which notched up 7,479.
Thus the MINI brand’s foray into a new vehicle segment proved a great success story in 2012 as well, both in the USA and globally. Yet the front-runner in the brand’s popularity ratings is once again the MINI Hatch. This classic body variant also topped the USA rankings with sales of 29,278 units. Following the second-placed MINI Countryman are the MINI Clubman (5,769 units) and the MINI Convertible (4,813). As for the latter, it is worth noting that the open-top four-seater is extremely popular on the sunny West Coast in particular and that last year almost 60 per cent of were ordered in high-performance MINI Cooper S Convertible guise.
The two novices in the model range – the MINI Coupé and the MINI Roadster – likewise made a blistering start out of the blocks. In its first complete sales year the MINI Coupé registered 2,880 deliveries, while in the first few months of its life in the United States the MINI Roadster already had a tally of 2,371 units to add to the brand’s successful sales figures. Both two-seaters, moreover, instantly established their status in the USA as a byword for outstanding driving fun and a particularly intense go-kart feeling – as corroborated by the strong demand for the extremely sporty MINI John Cooper Works Coupé and MINI John Cooper Works Roadster models. Their market share within the relevant range clearly outstrips that of any other MINI.
