[David Scott]

I've "cut and pasted" the following news release from prnewswire.com...

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- MINI USA reported its first full month of retail sales in April with 1,559 cars being delivered to customers. The figure comprised 1477 MINI Coopers and 82 MINI Cooper S'.
Availability of the MINI Cooper S will increase as production ramps up in the coming weeks.
Sales this month have truly demonstrated the diversity and breadth of MINI customers: A MINI dealer in South Carolina has registered a MINI Cooper to the
oldest buyer to date, a 96 year old -- who insisted on a 5 speed manual configuration. A dealer in New York state has delivered a car to the tallest, a man of over 7 feet.
Three more MINI dealers opened in April: Prestige MINI in New Jersey, Classic MINI in Ohio, and Northwest MINI in Seattle, Washington. The network now stands at 56 with further dealers due to open in the next months.
Jack Pitney, general manager of MINI USA said: "MINI is now in its first full month of sales and our dealers have done a terrific job in delivering cars into customers hands. We feel that buying a MINI is a unique experience
and so we paid special attention to the whole MINI delivery process. We are delighted at the response from our new MINI customers to that process."
MINI USA is expected to sell 20,000 cars in its first full year through a network of approximately 70 MINI dealers, when fully established. The 115hp MINI Cooper has an MSRP of $16,850 and the supercharged 163hp MINI Cooper S is $19,850. Both prices include delivery charges.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America has been present in the United States since 1975. Since then, the BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales and financial service organizations for the BMW and MINI brands; a South
Carolina manufacturing operation; DESIGNWORKS/USA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. The BMW Group is represented in the U.S.
through networks of 340 BMW car, 327 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle, 148 BMW Motorcycle retailers and 56 MINI car dealers. BMW US Holding Corp., the Group's headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the
Internet at http://www.bmwusa.com http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com and
http://www.miniusa.com

[BruceK]

Interesting. So with March sales, the total number of MINIs in the US is still under 2,500.

That's a long way to go to hit 20,000 by EOY.

[jodathmorr]

I think once more people start seeing them on the streets and talking to owners they will sell more units.

[PigLick]

Quote:

Originally posted by BruceK
Interesting. So with March sales, the total number of MINIs in the US is still under 2,500.

That's a long way to go to hit 20,000 by EOY.

The 20,000 is for their first ful year of sales, not the end of the calendar year. So 2500 in the first 5-6 weeks seems like they're right about on target, if not a bit ahead.

PigLick

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by PigLick


The 20,000 is for their first ful year of sales, not the end of the calendar year. So 2500 in the first 5-6 weeks seems like they're right about on target, if not a bit ahead.

PigLick

Realizing 2002 is not a full sales year, I understood the plan was to sell 20,000 this year in the US (to launch the MINI in this market), and then 20,000 to 25,000 each following year in the US.

Or is that not correct?

[David Scott]

BruceK,

Quoting from the press release I posted above: "MINI USA is expected to sell 20,000 cars in its first full year." So I'm with PigLick on this one

David Scott

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by David Scott
BruceK,

Quoting from the press release I posted above: "MINI USA is expected to sell 20,000 cars in its first full year." So I'm with PigLick on this one

David Scott

Well, like the officer said:

"Right then.

Good show.

Carry on."