how much did you guys pay for your mini's?

Originally Posted by mtbscott

So as implied earlier, you are not a consumer, you are an employee and/or related to an employee therefore your price paid is irrelevant.

nobody asked under what circumstances you got it. I was just sharing, chillax.

Originally Posted by phantombmw

nobody asked under what circumstances you got it. I was just bragging, chillax.

Fixed it for ya.

Originally Posted by Boile

Why are Mini's so short in supply 4 years after its introduction?

Where are they in short supply??

We got too many here....

Originally Posted by Boile

Fixed it for ya.

Dumb.

Originally Posted by LuvThatSam

Where are they in short supply??

We got too many here....

Then send them to the West Coast or Northeast!

Originally Posted by LuvThatSam

Where are they in short supply??

We got too many here....

BMW's grand plan. keeping the market tight and controlled. Limited dealerships, etc....

Originally Posted by javelina1

BMW's grand plan. keeping the market tight and controlled. Limited dealerships, etc....

That can't be the answer.
I mean, if it was under their full control and keeping supplies tight is a workable and successfull marketing strategy, why don't every car maker do that?

What works for one company may not work for another. MINI makes money by keeping supply relatively low and keeping hype up, thus being able to effectively charge MSRP for every car (like Ferrari), whereas BMW makes money by selling as much as it can, notably the 3-series, and not necessarily getting MSRP on the many of their sales (like Toyota).

Originally Posted by Boile

That can't be the answer.
I mean, if it was under their full control and keeping supplies tight is a workable and successfull marketing strategy, why don't every car maker do that?

Because there isn't artificial demand for other cars. The Mini is like the Wii...keep supplies tight, keep it niche and the niche view the product as something special, not just a commodity.

Originally Posted by blueguydotcom

Because there isn't artificial demand for other cars. The Mini is like the Wii...keep supplies tight, keep it niche and the niche view the product as something special, not just a commodity.

Yeah, the supply/demand equation for MINI "works" because it is still a very low volume product... MINI sales in the US have been in the 40,000 unit ballpark and will go up to around 50,000 next year with the Clubman. And there are only 82 dealers in the US.

Another reason why they stick to MSRP (or very close) is that MINI doesn't offer incentives and rarely offers subsidized lease/finance programs (only at the end of the model year... like the current 4.9% financing they have on 2007s). They also do not have any sort of holdback/CSI money/bonus money for dealers-- they actually award their top dealers with extra cars instead of money. Unlike other brands that get money for getting certain sales/CSI targets, the only profit the MINI dealer makes is what they retain from the gross profit in the car--and the cars are in short supply for just about every dealer--so they're less likely to give that up.

Lastly (dont want to go on too long here)... in many dealers the parts/service business is a major part of the dealer's profit and helps pay most of the bills (and in some really good operations, the parts/service business more than covers all of the dealer's operating expenses). If you look at the data on MINI dealers, which I've seen many times, the parts/service business is still growing since it is a relatively new brand, and the sales departments at MINI dealers therefore carry a much bigger part of the burden in covering the bills. Probably not a direct reason why they sell for MSRP (yes, I realize that I am stretching on this one... ) but some food for thought.

I can't see this working with a more high volume product and brand like BMW.