Remember a long time ago - like it was yesterday? In fact, it was yesterday when MINIUSA's VP Jim McDowell was quoted to say he expected a rise of more than 30% in year over year sales for MINI in 2009. Well Jim, those figures might be a bit off. An official BMW USA Press Release today, posted at BimmerFile:
The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported February sales of 15,805 vehicles, a decrease of 34.7 percent over the 24,190 vehicles sold in the same month of 2008. The BMW Group also reported a year-to-date sales volume of 30,119 vehicles, down 26.8 percent, compared to 41,125 vehicles in the same period of 2008.
As far as MINI is concerned, BMW Group reported:
MINI Brand Sales
MINI USA reported sales of 2,826 automobiles, down 17.2 percent from the 3,415 cars sold in February 2008. The drop from last February was driven mainly by the build out phase of the MINI Convertible. The new model will go on sale in the US at the end of March. Year-to-date, the division reported sales of 4,908 automobiles, a decrease of 16.5 percent, compared to the 5,875 cars reported in the first two months of 2008.
When asked about the losses Jim, you are reported to have said:
“The economy slowed so much in December and January that MINI felt the pain,” said Jim McDowell, Vice-President of MINI USA. “In February however, sales were up 36 percent compared to January ‘09 and we’re now seeing some who had been on the sidelines putting their feet back in the water shopping for cars as evidenced by increasing website traffic and online configurations being sent to dealers.”
Jim McDowell - forever the optimist.
