MINI Sales Figures October 2011

What a month for the Countryman! MINI Countryman had its best month ever in October with 2,012 sales (coinciding with delivery of 2012 model year Countryman!) Overall, MINI USA reported sales of 5,415 automobiles in October.  The October 2011 sales are up 37.1% from the 3,950 sold in October 2010.  Year-to-date, MINI sales in the U.S. are up 22.1% on volume of 47,050 compared to 38,538 in the first ten months of 2010.

What's very remarkable this month is how close Countryman sales had caught up with Hardtop sales, the definite volume leader for all these years. With sales number of 2,012, it is only 65 units shy of Hardtop sales of 2,077. It was speculated before that it was only a matter of time that Countryman sales could catch up to Hardtop sales, but not this fast.

While Countryman sales number is impressive, it is also notable that Hardtop sales has been lagging, down 25.3% compared to same month last year.  Does this mean Countryman is finally cannibalizing the sales of Hardtop models? Only small percentage of customers who have been considering MINI brand perhaps, as many customers who purchase Countryman do not consider other MINI vehicles due to their size. My other guess is many owners of Hardtop models might be choosing Countryman instead of another Hardtop model when it is time to replace their MINI with another MINI.

Also, just launched Coupe showed a quite strong sales with 414 units, bettering Convertible model, which I suspect would decrease even further with the introduction of Roadster model unveiled yesterday.

Clubman soldiers on with steady sales in the range of 500-800 units each month.