Gender agenda at Mini

BMW Group Australia’s new Mini national manager, Justin Hocevar, is studying how to get more women interested in the brand.

While the marque has had considerable success since its Australian launch in March 2002, to date just 30 per cent of Mini buyers have been female.

"The Cabriolet campaign will have some female-specific material," Mr Hocevar told GoAuto at the recent launch of the rag-top version.

But he added that the basic marketing campaign for the model would remain male-oriented.

"There will be no reinventing of the wheel. The approach so far with Mini has been structured and direct – there’s little scope to deviate from that."For Mini, Australia is apparently something of an aberration in terms of gender balance, with the local model range comprising Cooper and Cooper S variants – the latter, at 51 per cent, making Australia the biggest Cooper S market in the world – tending to generate more male interest.

"Other markets have the Mini One, which tends to produce a more even balance," Mr Hocevar explained.

He has seen other opportunities to increase sales for the brand in Australia, including selling more Minis in rural areas without expanding the current retail network, which currently stands at 24 outlets.

"We are largely performing well in metropolitan areas, but we see there are more sales opportunities in the country," he said. "All BMW dealers are able to service Mini."Mr Hocevar also said that observing Porsche’s approach in retaining the essence of its 911 model has assisted BMW Group Australia in maintaining the basic integrity of the Mini concept.

Previous attempts by Porsche to deviate from its core 911 range – as seen with the 928 and 944/968 models – forcefully and painfully underlined what can happen if you fail to deliver what the public expects.

The Aussie Mini team is closely monitoring Porsche’s progress.

"The 911 is something of a yardstick for us," Mr Hocevar said.

Establishing the Mini brand on a global basis has been a success story for BMW and the Oxford plant in the UK is currently running at capacity to meet worldwide demand.

More than 500,000 Minis have been sold since its launch in 2002.

In Australia, the company posted 1500 vehicle sales in 2004, down from 1633 in 2003. With the arrival of the cabriolet, the sales target for 2005 is circa 2000.

Worldwide, the expectation is that over a period of 10 years Mini sales volumes will double as more variants arrive. The second-generation Mini Cooper is expected in 2007.

Mr Hocevar, 34, had been with the company’s motorcycle operation, BMW Motorrad, for more than six years, moving from a role as regional parts and accessories manager to national sales manager before taking up his new role.