Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    MINI Decides To Cut Back On Their Lineup

      MINI's Plans for Expansion..? Yeah, about that...

    For awhile, we've been reporting on MINI's plans to expand their lineup to possibly ten models. But now, the company is reversing that decision. Bloomberg reports that MINI's parent company, BMW has decided that MINI has too many models and is cutting it down from eight to five models.

    Peter Schwarzenbauer, MINI's brand chief says the automaker will focus on “superhero” vehicles such as the three-door hardtop.

    “Like a superhero, each of these cars has its own personality and unique capabilities. It is important to find the right balance between growth on the one hand and profitability on the other,” said Schwarzenbauer.

    Schwarzenbauer goes onto say that this new focus means that three to four of the current models will remain in the lineup, though he doesn't say which models will be cut. Likely models to be cut include the MINI Coupe and Roadster.

    Even with these cuts, MINI isn't giving up on introducing new models. Schwarzenbauer says that the automaker is planning to introduce an electric vehicle “soon” once it appears that zero-emission driving becomes a must in urban areas.

    Source: Bloomberg

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    What is it with German brands and their desire to call each and every body-style or engine-option variation a model?

     

    Back in the day, you bought an Oldsmobile Cutlass, but that wasn't the end of the story. You could have bought a 2-door coupe, 2-door hard top, 4-door sedan, 4-door hard top, convertible, wagon, or a 442... or you bought an Eighty-Eight, again with just about all of those available variations.   Up to 14 different options, but in the end, just two models. 

     

    Mini has 8 "models" but they are all just variations on two cars... at it's base, Mini has the Mini Cooper which is the basis for 6 "models" and the Countryman which is the basis for 2 "models" 

     

    BMW is just as bad.  Audi is worse.

     

    *might turn this rant into a longer Op Ed later.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    They should make cuts. They need the original, the Clubman, convertible and the Countryman because it is more like a crossover. That is about it. They should worry more about reliability or offering a high mpg diesel rather than body styles.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    We have a FWD Paceman in the shop right now with $10k worth of crash damage.

     

     

    ...are you sure it's just not that way from the factory?

    They should make cuts. They need the original, the Clubman, convertible and the Countryman because it is more like a crossover. That is about it. They should worry more about reliability or offering a high mpg diesel rather than body styles.

     

     

    Once actually...I agree with you.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Paceman and the new 5 door shouldn't be there in their current form. Period. The Roadster is something I like, and really doesn't take away frm tyhe MINI brand IMHO... Coupe is butt ugly.

     

    I think instead of the 5-door they should have planned for Clubman (similar to current model) and Clubman L (5-door as poer the concept) versions of the estate. And they should have brought back a MINI Moke but based on the Clubman 4x4 instead of spending money on the Paceman development.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I have always said that there is two types of people on this world: those who like Mini and those who don't. 

    In my opinion, Mini should never disappear, but I think BMW regrets buying it, because it probably doesn't sell as they thought and  personally think that the BMW ruined the history of this car buy buying it. I hope that this decison of cutting back on their models will be a step forward even though it might not seem that way. 

    MINI has been incredibly successful and a cash machine in BMW's world. What other brand could sell EUR 40K cars that small? Cutting the MINI model range has to do with not whoring out the brand; they have the FWD BMWs with that 2-Series naming confusion for that purpose :D

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I have always said that there is two types of people on this world: those who like Mini and those who don't. 

    In my opinion, Mini should never disappear, but I think BMW regrets buying it, because it probably doesn't sell as they thought and  personally think that the BMW ruined the history of this car buy buying it. I hope that this decison of cutting back on their models will be a step forward even though it might not seem that way. 

     

    I think that the only thing BMW regrets is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to expand the Mini brand into the mainstream family car market. I'm sure BMW would love to be able to compete with the Fusion, Mondeo, and Focus.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Just as Europe was to Music in the last few centuries, America topped Europe from the mid 1900's to now, but sadly in the last 4-5 ish years, I would say America has lost talent / folks worthy to listen to and Korea seems to be coming up strong. Yes, it was K-Pop with a few English words, now you have Black Pink, Aliee, Rain and others that are starting to really dominate the world of Music.  Lucky is that we still have the diversity of Music that the Asian Rim has not hit upon. PNW of course has contributed a number of types of Music such as Indie, Grunge, Alternative, Folk, Modern, Jazz, Rock, pretty impressive when you look at what has come from here: Music of the Pacific Northwest - Wikipedia Will be interesting to see how Music evolves over the coming years due to changes of society in North America due to repressive idiots.
    • Awesome  That sound like a rational option  I really think that America is a good place to eventually be from. That being said, I love American music. Music is Americas gift to the world. Of at least that much I am proud.
    • The Lyric has a weird back end, it is also too long for a 2 row SUV, and the wheels are too big, unless you get the base wheel.  The proportions are just off, the Vistiq and Optiq look a little more like traditional SUVs and I think if you want to sell EV's it needs to look like a traditional car and not some funky futuristic thing that is different for the sake of being different.  Also why Mercedes need to throw the EQ line in the trash which they are doing and they have an Electric G-wagon and their path to success is take the S-class body, the E-class body, etc and just drop it on the EV platform and call it a day.   Cadillac's ICE lineup outside of the Escalade isn't competitive at all, they can scrap all that crap and push to EV.    
    • I think Elon going full MAGA will probably drive away some of his former customers, plus there are so many other options coming on the market, and the Model Y is dated, although likely getting a refresh in 2025, but even the Model 3 is basically 7 years old, with just 1 refresh on it.    And if you take away the tax credit, Tesla prices basically go up 15-20%, that will cripple their sales.   GM just has to make sure they hit on build quality, and get the battery cost down, so that all these EV's at a least have no price increase in 2025 or 2026 as ICE cars keep getting more expensive so they can get some price parity.  And a sub-$30k Bolt could sell like hotcakes because the old one sold well despite being pretty below par for charge speed and battery tech. 
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search