Mini Drawing New Interest Because of Fuel Prices

Maybe it was the recent introduction of the Clubman, but Mini is saying, nope, it’s high fuel prices that have driven traffic to its website to increase nearly 90%. Last month, more than 900,000 people went to miniusa.com to check out the Cooper lineup. Searches for new Mini Coopers were also up on Cars.com, nearly 40% in May compared to April 2008.

The base Mini Cooper coupe and the new Clubman both get their best mileage when equipped with a manual transmission, checking in at 28/37 mpg city/highway. That’s better than a standard Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla. The automatic-equipped Coopers register mileage of 26/34 mpg city/highway, just behind the Civic and Corolla autos.

Still, for car shoppers looking to move down to something more fuel-efficient who are able to spend a few extra grand on a stylish coupe versus a traditional economy car, the Cooper makes a lot of sense. Sales were up 52.8% for Mini in May, but most of that increase was attributed to the new Clubman model being added to the lineup. Sales of regular Cooper coupes were up 29%, however, and that model was redesigned last year.

Comments

my mother has a 03 coupe "british green". I must say that they are very charming cars. They are excellent city cars. They are excellent on gas. Their re-sale value is outstanding. Their reliability is much improved. The main drawback is the lack of dealers, which mini controls. The closest dealer from sw fl is all the way in clearwater, which for some people is a 2 hour+ drive. I would say people looking for sttle without the me too feel of the honda civic woud be wise to look at the mini

I'm even tsarting to bore myself with my regular posts about which cars fall under which categories, what with crossovers, minivans and all, but i cannot stop myself doing it again.

What on earth makes a Mini a Coupe? I always thought the Coupe designation was reserved for 2 door sedan variants? (yes, i know the CLS has muddied that somewhat). It's what separates the old Foxus ZX3 from the newer Focus Coupe. The older model was a 3 door hatch. As i understand it, and unless I am massively deluded, the Mini ain't no coupe. It's a cute, great handling Hatchback.

I know it's a small detail but it always gets to me!

Mart. You're right. It's probably technically a two-door hatchback. I guess the clubman would be a 2.5 door hatchback? I just wanted to make sure people knew which one I was talking about.

I just purchased a Clubman (which I am still waiting to receive) for economy purposes. The hemi pickup is no longer a viable daily driver. Granted, by the time it is optioned out there is a lot of buck involved but I'm sure looking forward to the bang!