Mini searches for ways to help its retailers hang tough

Demand for Mini vehicles has fallen so much that parent BMW of North America is considering letting dealers with both franchises combine operations to save money.

That's the hottest question on the minds of dealers, said Jason Willis, incoming chairman of the Mini National Dealer Council. Willis is fixed operations director at Willis Automotive (Cadillac-Infiniti-Jaguar-Land Rover-Lexus- Mini-Volvo) in Des Moines, Iowa. The group includes a rare standalone Mini dealership without a companion BMW franchise.

Willis said Mini products are great, but except for the Countryman, they're not in the best-selling vehicle segments.

With new-car sales being soft, Mini USA has stepped up to support dealers with additional back-end incentives that kept some dealers in the black in 2018, and with other forms of support for used and certified pre-owned vehicles, Willis told Automotive News.

Mini USA also has refrained from making unreasonable demands for dealership improvements, and hasn't pushed excess inventory on dealers, he said.

Mini's U.S. sales in 2018 were 43,684, down 7.3 percent from 2017. Its car sales were down 19 percent.

The brand's only crossover, the Countryman, began U.S. sales in December 2010 and was redesigned as of March 2017. In 2018, Countryman sales in the U.S. were up 18 percent. But two-door, four-door, hardtop and soft-top cars still accounted for a majority of the brand's U.S. sales.

Down the road, Willis said dealers are convinced Mini could support a bigger light truck, based on their experience with the Countryman.