Case: The MiniGroup 3: Daniel Gomez, Elisa Ham, Hien Le, Arif Mushlih

What Do We Know?• Small, fun cars / retro cars

Mazda’s Miata VW’s New Beetle Chrysler’s PT Cruiser

Ford’s Thunderbird Nissan’s 350Z

BMW and the Mini affair• BMW’s mission:

Sell established models in established markets Penetrating new markets with new models

• Acquired Rover Group, Ltd.

• Existing market: Europe

BMW wanted to enter the small, fun car market and target young, first-time car buyers in the U.S.

What Were the Issues that BMW Had?• Wanted to launch an affordable car but did not want backlash

from current BMW owners who paid a premium for the BMW name

• Mini is popular in Europe but customer preferences might be different in the U.S.

• Wanted to target the young, first-time new car buyer market. Needed to keep the vision for the car in mind.

Result: Not stress BMW in the promotion of the Mini, but let BMW’s engineering and design speak for itself.

Mini: Design Considerations

Differentiation20%

Meet Customer Needs30%

Environment15%

Support Cor-porate Identity

5%

Speed to Market

10%

Ease of Man-ufacture

20%

Importance (%)

Benefits for the Targeted Market Segments• Affordable price

• Sporty design

• BMW quality

• Reminiscent of the classic Mini

• Fuel efficiency

Design Pitfalls and Concerns• Product differentiation

• Utility car size

• Emotional appeal

• Driving experience

• Maintenance and repair

• Quality of the user interface

Focus groups

Simulation

Focus groups/ Surveys

Simulation

Prototype

Simulation/ Prototype