Belinda and I spent the afternoon in luxury car dealerships on Park Lane. We started in BMW where the atmosphere is professional, but reserved. The perfectly parked and posed cars are like caged animals at the zoo, lifeless and a little sad. The dealers are adamant that the recession hasn’t affected business… at least not for new cars.
“This is Park Lane, our customer buys a car and sells it back to us a few months later when they go back home (to Russia or the Middle East). They just want a nice car to drive while they’re here. A BMW is not a big purchase for them.”
There’s a sense of arrogance, or perhaps denial at BMW, but next door at MINI - their sister dealership – things couldn’t be more different. We feel like we’re in a futuristic and funky club, not a car showroom. We’re welcomed with smiles and energy. The models on display are colorful, bold and full of character.
At Mini Ryan tells us how he’s seen people trading up and down into Mini’s over the past 6 months.
“I had a customer sell his Aston Martin to move to a Mini. We have Mini drivers who were in Porsche Cayennes and Mercedes. But we also have people who were drove a Fiat or a Renault. The Mini is a classless vehicle. You can park next to a Porsche at the polo and feel like you belong or you can drive to the pub or the supermarket.”
Sophie (the only female sales person we could find) added, “The only real difference between a BMW and a Mini is space. Mini drivers can still have the leather and luxuries, they still have the speed and power. And in a Mini you make a statement… but it’s not ostentatious. It’s a statement about who you are as a person, not how much money you have.”
Truth: You don’t need to play by the old rules of luxury to appeal to affluent consumers. Mini has performance, character and heritage. They reject the idea that luxury is about wealth or class. And people love them for it.
Challenge: Make luxury classless.
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