Here’s WSJ on the latest Mini strategy:
It is a sign of the times that BMW isn’t shouting about its luxury range. Instead, the car maker is making most noise about the Mini, its smallest, relatively low-margin vehicle. The drive to get more out of Mini comes as rivals are jumping into its premium small-car segment. Meanwhile, tighter environmental regulations and a sluggish economy are hitting BMW’s sedans and SUVs. Minis fetch as much as £21,000 ($37,000), roughly twice the price of similarly sized cars made by volume manufacturers. Yet despite the high price point, a trend toward buying smaller cars helped Mini volumes rise slightly in July from a year ago while BMW-branded models declined 15%. Hence BMW’s plans to expand production at Mini’s sole plant in the U.K. and for a crossover version made in Austria. – from WSJ