Mini boss Kay Segler (Kay rhymes with "sky") is relentlessly optimistic though thoroughly tight-lipped about this BMW brand's future - successful as it has been this past decade.
Yes, the revived Mini brand was launched a decade ago on March 22, 2002. At the time, the naysayers were skeptical, and the so-called experts amused - no, not amused, bemused.
As for the hard-core Mini types, many were trapped by their tunnel vision and therefore aghast at what BMW planned to wring out of the carcass of the original Mini launched in 1959. BMW had held onto the Mini brand even as it set about selling Rover's SUV business to Ford while giving away the rest of the then-Rover car company to a group of investors.
BMW's Rover adventure nearly sank the company and has proved a lesson in how NOT to grow a car business through acquisitions and brand expansion. BMW could not manage the BMW-Rover culture clash and wasted a mountain of cash trying. Nonetheless, Munich-based BMW saw enormous potential in Mini and had crafted a plan to realize that promise while cutting adrift the rest of money-losing Rover.
The plan called for production of new Mini models at a plant in Oxford, in the southwest of England. In the beginning, Mini had just one model, a small, three-door premium car. Plenty of critics guffawed at the idea of selling expensive small cars at a time when giant SUVs ruled North American roads. General Motors' Hummer brand was born in this period.
Hummer died with demand for all monster SUVs, but Mini has grown. Mini's lineup today has expanded to six models including roadsters and all-wheel-drive crossovers - small ones. Last year, Mini sold a record 285,060 cars worldwide and Segler says, "We plan to further increase sales in 2012. We aim to grow at a steady, sustainable rate." With a second production facility in Graz, Austria (with Magna Steyr), Mini could build 400,000 vehicles at some point.
What Mini won't do is push "units onto the market. For us, it is more important to maintain the stable value of our used cars," says Segler.
He says this as he removes a Mini pin from his lapel and sticks it to mine, all the while sporting a broad smile. This is branding at its most basic and Segler goes about his work with style and charm.
This is life for Kay Segler, Mini's senior vice-president, chief spokesperson and custodian of all things Mini. He understands the importance of Mini within the big BMW Group, as well. The incremental sales volume is great, but Mini also keeps BMW itself youthful and engaged with buyers who are not rapid BMW loyalists.
And to court evermore customers, Mini's has just launched the Roadster, and "Toward the end of 2012, we will be bringing our seventh variant, the Coupe Countryman, to market," he says. What will that look like?
"Our Paceman concept already provided a glimpse of it. Over the medium term, we aim to expand our family from six models to 10."
Details, details?
"We have plenty of ideas, but we will only be bringing them to market gradually."
As I said, Segler is upbeat and circumspect. My job here, however, is to speculate and here's the starting point: Mini values its low carbon footprint (average CO2 emissions of 128 grams per kilometer), suggesting a plug-in hybrid Mini must be in the works. Segler doesn't deny it, but also says he can't confirm an on-sale date for an electric Mini. Trust me, it's coming.
What Segler will discuss is the truth underpinning Mini's success. This is not a retro brand, he says. The only thing historical about Mini is the general look of the cars and a vague connection to the 1960s insouciance so beautifully parodied by Austin Powers. The current Minis themselves are sporty and fun-to-drive vehicles based on a fuel-thrifty front-wheel-drive configuration.
From that, Mini has focused on performance enhancements - John Cooper Works models - and other variations of the basic Mini theme. Love them or hate them, all the Minis out there now are head-turners, very modern ones.
Segler and his crew must also know they are managing a global brand. In 2011, the United States was Mini's largest market (57,511 vehicles), followed by the U.K. (50,428 units) and Germany (40,351 units). Major growth is coming from sales in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan where sales were up 51 per cent to 17,650 last year. The region is now Mini's sixth-largest market, says Segler, adding "This trend is expected to continue."
From Stuttgart to Piccadilly, and from Boston to Beijing, Mini has a global footprint served by about 1,500 dealers. The plan is to expand the retail network in emerging markets like China and South Korea.
Here's the takeaway: Mini, as a brand, must be outward-looking and open to new ideas. That perspective filters back into BMW, a premium company forever at risk of growing insulated and smug inside a Munich headquarters brimming with fat profits. On a sunny Bavarian spring day everything seems just about perfect and that can be intoxicating for BMW.
Segler and the Mini crew, though, know they face a sober and must be forward-looking to survive and thrive. The next huge challenge for Mini is the release of the new, second-generation hatchback in 2013 as a 2014 model. It will share a front-wheel-drive platform with BMW models.
The obvious question: Will the Mini brand be diluted, or perhaps polluted, by so obvious a BMW tie-up? No chance, says Segler. Sharing a platform across brands and models comes with more advantages than disadvantages. Besides, Mini knows full well what it is and must always be - unique and different from BMW brand vehicles.
Platform sharing, he adds, makes it easier to bring products and derivatives to market and do so faster using standardized modules. This is how car companies control costs while expanding. And this is also how Mini earns BMW a tidy profit.
Ten years on, the Mini success story has surprised even some within BMW. Careful as he is not to reveal too many details, a conversation with Segler suggests the next Mini decade could be even more interesting.
