Will The US Overtake UK As #1 Consumer Of MINIs?
January 13th, 2007
Maybe while trying to give its new, second generation Mini Copper sales a shot in the arm, Mini suddenly announced that they could see the US overtaking the UK as Mini’s number one market. At the Detroit Auto Show, Mini of North America vice-president Jim McDowell described the US as being on the fast track.
Whatever that means. The US accounted for more than 20% of the 188,000 units moved worldwide. Mini hopes that the recent changes at the Oxford plant will help boost production capacity to 240,000 next year and feels the US will get the lion’s share.
Online Car Sales, Is Now The Time?
May 28th, 2006
With a whopping two-thirds of new car customers researching their purchases online and virtually complete access to the byzantine maze of rebates and incentives, consumers have been using their new-found knowledge to drive down the dealer’s profit margin. This is making some dealers, notably consolidated dealer networks like Lithia and AutoNation, consider how to better integrate online retailing into their operations. As a direct result, AutoNation is launching its SmartChoice online service in June.