News : MINI celebrates record UK sales in 2014

The introduction of the new MINI 5-Door Hatch in October led to a dramatic increase in the brand’s fleet sales – up 17 per cent year-on-year
The introduction of the new MINI 5-Door Hatch in October led to a dramatic increase in the brand’s fleet sales – up 17 per cent year-on-year

MINI recorded record sales in the UK in 2014. In total, 53,661 MINI models found homes with UK buyers last year – 1,728 (3.3 per cent) more than the previous record set in 2013. MINI’s market share in the UK was 2.17 per cent, making it the biggest market for the brand in the world (by that measure).

The New MINI 3-Door Hatch, launched in March, continued to be the brand’s biggest seller. Alongside its all-new stablemate, the MINI 5-Door Hatch, more than 28,000 were sold last year (3-Door Hatch: 24,200 and 5-Door Hatch: 3,800). The introduction of the first-for-brand MINI 5-Door Hatch in October also saw a dramatic increase in the brand’s fleet sales – up 17 per cent year-on-year.

Elsewhere in the range, there was also a record sales year for the recently refreshed MINI Paceman. More than 4,000 were sold in 2014, which is 25 per cent more than the previous 12-month period. The Countryman had yet another strong year in the UK selling 14,169 units. While this isn’t a record sales figure for Countryman (14,864 were sold in 2013), it does prove that British buyers have truly taken the compact SUV to their hearts.

Chris Brownridge, Director, MINI UK, said: ‘This sales performance is all the more remarkable when you consider that the New MINI 3-Door Hatch – the mainstay of the MINI range – only launched in March 2014. When it arrived in showrooms, however, buyers couldn’t get enough of the iconic model.

‘The great sales result last year takes the total number of MINIs sold in the UK since 2001 to nearly 600,000 – proving that the British love affair with the brand is not only alive and well, but blossoming.”

This momentum looks set to continue into 2015 with a UK order bank that’s 100 per cent larger than the same period last year and the global public unveiling of the MINI John Cooper Works at next week’s Detroit Auto Show.

Packing the most powerful engine ever for a production MINI – a 2.0-litre unit delivering 231 hp and 320 Nm – the JCW delivers 10 per cent more power and 23 per cent more torque than the previous model. This brings the 0-62 mph time down to 6.1 seconds.

Clive Goldthorp

11 Comments

    • Money can also pay for the operation you apparently are in desperate need of in order to have the chip on your shoulder surgically removed.

    • What kind of new car would you suggest buying for the same price as a Mini that demonstrates “taste”?

  1. Great to see them doing well, though it’s a surprise to see the Fiat 500 consistently outselling it in the UK, let alone mainland Europe. Why is that, I wonder?

  2. Is the Fiat 500 cheaper to buy and with more dealers?

    I drove a Fiat 500 in Italy and hated its rear and side visibility, overtaking on the motorway was a real pain!

    MINI makes more sense in my view.

  3. I can see the 5dr hatch having a big impact on sales – it brings family car practicality without having to opt for the Countryman which in many ways is just too bulky.

  4. It’s no surprise that the Fiat 500 outsells the MINI. The problem is the MINI is too substantial. The 3 door is a great car and makes up nearly 60% of sales.The 500 scores in that it is a really stylish re-interpretation of the original and it remains a smallish car. Much more in tune with urban driving needs or being a second car. Apart from the 3 door the other MINI versions clearly lose something in appeal. Drifting towards Golf / Focus size is a drawback. Often competitors offer better more practical cars for cheaper money and sell better. You’ll see this a BMW drop some major MINI variants and strip down the range in the next three years…

  5. The average Mini is probably 5,000 more expensive that a 500 and has a much more powerful engine. Am sure the 500 is a nice car but it’s not in same league as the Mini. BMW also sell at a nice premium and profit. fiat probably work off a much lower margin.

    • The 500 is built in Poland as well.
      If BMW shifted MINI production from Cowley/Hams Hall/Swindon (and Nedcar) to the Czech Republic (where the 108/C1/Aygo) are built I’m sure they could reduce the price, but happily they aren’t doing that.

  6. You are lucky it’s BMW making the MINI, it it had been leftto Rover with its dud hGF engines, terrible reputation and after sales the car would probably have flopped.

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