Ken Gratton•31 Oct 2014
NEWS
MINI headed for Aussie sales record
Supply starting to match demand for new three-door; five-door will eventually be the top sellerThe global popularity of the new MINI Cooper three-door hatch has pushed production capacity to its limits – with a paucity of the F56 model delivered locally this year.
And while the company is reeling in demand for the new three-door, the even newer five-door will face the same supply shortages in the first few months on sale. After that, however, the five-door will account for 60 per cent of MINI hatch sales. Since the three-door hatch is already MINI's largest selling variant, the five-door will effectively take over that role. It may reduce the sales of the three-door in doing so, as MINI fanciers opt for the more practical model.
But in the short term, there's this supply problem troubling the importer.
According to Kai Bruesewitz, the importer's general manager, sales in Australia have been as much as 12 per cent down, year on year. That shortfall is entirely due to the introduction of the F56 model, replacing the previous R56 generation. Around the world MINI sales have fallen 7.5 per cent for the year, for precisely the same reason.
But with adequate supply finally reaching our shores, the brand will bounce back very quickly... so quickly in fact that Bruesewitz is predicting a local sales record for MINI. In an interview with motoring.com.au this week he acknowledged that the five-door model just launched will contribute to MINI's Australian sales record, but for the moment sales of the five-door (F55) model will be hampered by lack of supply just as the three-door model has been before now.
"Five-door hatch plays a minor role..." Bruesewitz said. "It's more about having sufficient supply of the three-door and also our other models performing reasonably well. However, the hatch is our biggest volume driver so far..."
While he's unsure just how well the five-door will sell here, in due course it will be the top-selling model in the local range, the MINI GM predicts.
"That's something we struggle to [pin] down. We're sure the market will tell us; our expectation is that out of 10 hatches, six would be F55. That's our best guess.
"We think that with the three-door we still have the iconic MINI hatch... after all, so there will still be plenty of customers [remaining] out there for the three-door."
But in volume terms it will be the F55 (five-door) that will account for the lion's share of sales once supply constraints are overcome.
The change from R56 to F56 took place in Australia from mid-April, and there has been a ramp-up of production since then, with more supply reaching local dealers in September and October.
"That's the story why we're trailing behind... our 2013 result, but I'm pretty confident that by the end of the year we'll have another sales record..." Bruesewitz explained.
Customer cars built to a certain specification were taking in effect up to four months from ordering to delivery, but there were stocks of cars available during the same timeframe as well, with buyers able to take delivery of cars off the showroom floor.
Dealers haven't had that much stock however, to display a comprehensive range of models, accessories and options that would satisfy most needs.
"We now have enough supply and inventory, and the same as with the new five-door; the cars are in the dealerships, but not hundreds of them," Bruesewitz observed.
VFACTS figures for October are due out late next week, but Bruesewitz would already know how MINI is tracking for the month. That apparently leaves him confident that the brand will sell the necessary 700 units during the last three months of the year to set a new sales record in Australia – which would be somewhere "north" of 2506 sales for the year, or 2535 registrations.
"Yes, I would put money on it," he said.
There's plenty of latitude for the brand to grow sales in Australia, with MINI facing practically no direct competitors in Australia.
Bruesewitz is hard-pressed to think of a logical competitor to the MINI five-door, finally offering the Audi A1 as one suggestion. Despite the lack of market competition for the MINI brand, the importer has reduced prices for the F56 and F55 models anyway. What's more, that's a local strategy, not a global policy. And that means some MINI variants in Australia are cheaper than their equivalents in the UK, where the car is built, Bruesewitz notes.
And why is that?
"We wanted to just appeal to a bigger audience," Brueswitz says.
"Obviously, if you want to be successful in the marketplace, you have to have the right price and value proposition..."
Competitors weren't "necessarily determining factors," he concluded.
Tags
MINI
Car News
Hatchback
Written byKen Gratton
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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