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MINI was among the top ten best selling vehicles in the UK during the month of May 2009.

A report published by the SMMT, who represent Britain’s automotive industry, shows the MINI has popped up at number seven in the sales chart for the month, outselling even the ubiquitous Ford Mondeo which came in one place behind.

Despite sales being down almost one third for the year to date compared with 2008 there was good news for MINI as the 2,650 new MINIs registered in May increased their market share to 1.97 percent for the month, compared to a 1.91 percent share in May 2008. In fact, MINI seem to be seeing so many positive signs, some perhaps as a result of the huge amount of PR a golden anniversary has presented them, that the company has confirmed they are seeking to employ, preferably re-employ, 250 workers at the Oxford production plant to meet forthcoming demand.

The data presented by the SMMT also shows that the “mini car” segment is fairing better than any other, and private sales have declined less than fleet sales. Both of which could be an advantage to a small premium car manufacturer like MINI, who also experience a good balance between fleet and private sales.

The SMMT report claims that the UK Government’s scrappage scheme is having a positive effect on sales. Perhaps Douglas Park Hamilton MINI have taken things a little too far by choosing to display a Classic Mini, which was reportedly traded in under said scrappage scheme, to intice members of the public to turn their old cars into cubes for £2,000 towards a new MINI. Ouch.

Update on the Mini for MINI scrappage issue from MINI UK:

Douglas Park MINI of Hamilton did not intend to cause any offence by using a classic Mini to advertise the scrappage scheme in its dealer forecourt. BMW dealers in the area are using older BMW models in a similar manner and several other manufacturers have also adopted this approach. However, it is fully accepted that using a classic Mini in this way may have been interpreted as insensitive. This has been recognised and the car has now been removed.

BMW Group’s commitment to celebrating half a century of MINI was clearly evident at MINI United, staged at Silverstone between 22-24 May. The event attracted 25,000 visitors and more than 10,000 classic and new MINI cars. BMW Group will also be supporting the IMM at Longbridge from 7-10 August 2009.

Tags: Classic Mini, Douglas Park Hamilton MINI, mini sales, plant oxford, scrappage scheme

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 6:57 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.