2nd post from SF,Ca.
I'm wondering if the financial crisis may be having an effect on the Mini market and if people are getting better deals now.
I read this recent post from IzzyG on another thread.
"Erm, buying a car is the same regardless of brand. Dealer side issues should mean jack for the potential buyer. That is up to the dealer and manufacturer to come to terms with. The potential buyer should not have to sympathize the dealer's lack of manufacturer supplied incentives.

Mini sales will drop, that is a given and the weak attempt with extended plant closure will do nothing but prolong the bleeding. The pound and euro has lost value compared to the greenback. I would advise you to wait on the purchase. When the plant reopens and BMW realizes that current supply has not been sold, they would have to take drastic measures to move them. If, by some chance the current supply does sell, then you'd be back to square zero. No loss but possibility for some savings."


Perhaps as Izzy suggest Dealers may be more willing to go below MSRP in the future?
I got a quote for a base mini with automatic transmission that I can't find right now but everything was full price plus $1500.

 

Their are a bunch of threads on this so I would do a search.

The short answer is that is depends on where you live, but most people are paying MSRP with some floor mats and maybe, the lucky ones, another freebie. You will be able to find some who had to pay over MSRP and some under.

At the dealership I work at we have had an increase in deliveries in the past two months, go figure.

 

I tried looking for the thread where I posted that but had no luck. It was a thread regarding a fellow NAMer wanting to purchase a Mini. Oh and I suggested increased incentives for buyers, not necessarily lower price.

Anyways, I came across figures of auto sales for the Big 3 in the US(I believe MSNBC are air-ed it today) and every single one is in the 40%+ decline in sales. Ouch.

The issue with Mini is it truly falls under the premium brand of vehicles. Being part of BMW and costing more than their comparable-performance counterparts, this fact is obvious. And like many of us who attended Economics 101, it has been mentioned multiple times- luxury/premium goods tend to be rather inelastic to economic changes. Most who are able to afford it will still be able to afford it. I truly believe this is the view of the Mini corp. In addition, Mini sales aren't huge in the US, so a percentage drop is still a lower drop in real numbers compared to a percentage drop in BMW vehicle sales. So with all inelastic goods, a decrease in price will bring a lower than proportional increase in sales, leading to decreased revenue.

Add all of this into account and I'm not sure if the parent company will be willing to change pricing. The trickle down effect is dealers won't have much to play with pricing-wise. This is probably where more labor-based freebies come in.

In short, I don't believe prices will drop very much. However, I am willing to bet that there'll be more freebies on the dealer side of things.

 

In November, all brands had lower sales except Mini which went up 43%.

I'm not sure, but I am thinking that's because the Clubman wasn't widely available last Nov.

Anyway, MSRP is the highest you ought to pay for a Mini these days, even in the Bay Area, where I recently bought at MSRP.