SWOT ANALYSIS OF MINI COOPER

INTRODUCTION:
The original Mini started off as a small sized iconic car conceptualized by
British Motor Corporation in the year 1969. Since the year 1994 Mini Cooper
is a fully owned subsidiary of BMW. The popular models of the Mini Cooper
include The Mini Hatch/Hardtop, Clubman, Convertible, Coupe and Roadster,
England, the Countryman, and Paceman. The brand has also been associated
with and won many automobile rallies.

The car was originally called Mini and the performance version of the model
was renamed as Mini Cooper following an association with the ace racer John
Cooper. The Mini registered record sales revenue of 182,593 pounds in the
year 2016 the highest ever since 2001. The Mini Cooper has been able to
successfully carve a niche for itself in the automobile market and also enjoys
high brand quality. Here is the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper.[1]

SWOT ANALYSIS- MEANING

SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix) is a strategic planning technique used
to help a person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats related to business competition or project
planning.
S.W.O.T. and T.O.W.S analysis are management tools used to interpolate
external and internal strengths of a company
This technique, which operates by 'peeling back layers of the company  is
designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes
and can be used as a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of a city or
organization. It is intended to specify the objectives of the business venture
or project and identify the internal and external factors that are favourable
and unfavourable to achieving those objectives.
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STRENGHTS: WEAKNESS:

I. Differentiation I. British Styling

II. The backing of BMW II. Performance Issue.
III. Positioning III. Limited Global Reach
IV. Emotional Value IV. Poor after sales
V. Product Placement service.

OPPORTUNITIES: THREATS

I. Scope for I. Technology

penetration. II. Over dependence of
II. Car for everyone. personality
III. Change of trends
SWOT ANALYSIS OF MINI COOPER:
The following is the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper:

Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper:

Strengths are defined as what each business does best in its gamut of
operations which can give it an upper hand over its competitors. The
following are the strengths of Mini Cooper:

 Differentiation: Mini Cooper was able to carve a market for itself

primarily because of the differentiation it could offer especially in terms
of look and styling. The shape of the car and the vibrant colours in which
it is sold makes the Mini Cooper recognizable from a distance.
 The backing of BMW: BMW which has always been associated with
luxury, quality, and reliability currently own the Mini Cooper.the strong
backing of one of the world’s most trusted automakers has proved to be
one of the brands’ core strengths.
 Positioning: Mini Cooper is positioned as a fun and economical option
for people who wish to experience a luxury car but may not have the
means to buy one. This has been able to effectively capture the minds of
their target audience which are the youngsters.
 Emotional Value: Just like any other luxury car brand, the Mini Cooper
also is associated strongly with an emotional value through its
positioning as an affordable luxury car.
 Product Placement: At a time when small cars were struggling to gain
a place in the market, the Mini Cooper rose as a star through its
successful product placement in the movie Italian Job. The movie which
almost had the Mini as a character helped to build a global brand for the
car which was slowly losing its sheen in the market.

Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper:

Weaknesses are used to refer to areas where the business or the brand
needs improvement. Some of the key weaknesses of Mini Cooper are:
  British Styling: Till the very recent years Mini Cooper was seen as a
British car since it was very English in its styling and was not favoured
too highly by the global audience. However, the company has modelled
the new design with a more global framework in mind.
 Performance Issue: Mini Cooper has always been more popular for its
stylish design and differentiated shape and colours than its performance.
Critics have always complained about serious performance issues in the
vehicle.
 Limited Global Reach: Mini Cooper is sold through regional
distributors. But in comparison to local brands, the reach of Mini Cooper
is pretty low and it may not be easy to locate an authorized dealer.
 Poor after sales service : In most emerging markets, cars are
purchased by stringently evaluating the availability of spares and ease
with which after sales services can be solicited. Mini fails miserably in
both these areas.

Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper:

Opportunities refer to those avenues in the environment that surrounds the
business on which it can capitalize to increase its returns. Some of the
opportunities include:

 Scope for penetration in emerging economies : Like in the case of

most other industries, the automakers are also concentrating on
emerging economies like India and China. The millionaires in China are
expected to grow annually at a rate of 10 % for the next three years. The
market penetration of luxury cars in India is as low as 11 %.Both these
figures indicating a huge opportunity for luxury car makers.
 Car for everyone: The Mini Cooper is a car with a personality for itself
and backed by a differentiated design and functionalities. This can be
used to market the vehicle effectively as a car for everyone.
 Change of trends: The growing number of dual-income households, the
increase in the need for smart vehicle options and the focus on driving
comfort for which people feel that an additional premium can be paid are
all opportunities for Mini Cooper.
Threats in the SWOT analysis of Mini Cooper:
Some of the threats include:

 Technology: Some of the emerging technology areas like robot-driven

cars, alternate energy vehicles, interconnected traffic and safety systems
etc may not work in sync with the image that Mini Cooper has carved for
itself which may work towards diluting the brand persona of the car.

 Over-dependence of personality: Cars like Mini Cooper and its
nearest rival Volkswagen Beetle rely entirely upon their brand
personality and the emotional branding that they have been able to
weave around themselves. This means that a change of technology or
market will have to be centred on this image which can be dangerous.

 Recession which has affected businesses in every part of the world.

 To maintain the same level of innovation and performance.

 The growing competition in the automobile industry i.e.

competitors of BMW Group include Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Ford,
Lexus.
 TOWS ANALYSIS OF MINI COOPER
INTRODUCTION
TOWS Analysis is a variant of the classic business tool, SWOT Analysis.

TOWS and SWOT are acronyms for different arrangements of the words
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

By analyzing the external environment (threats and opportunities), and

your internal environment (weaknesses and strengths), you can use these
techniques to think about the strategy of your whole organization, a
department or a team. You can also use them to think about a process, a
marketing campaign, or even your own skills and experience.

USING THE TOOL

Step 1: Perform a TOWS/SWOT analysis, recording your findings in the space
provided. This helps you understand what your strengths and weaknesses
are, as well as identifying the opportunities and threats that you should be
looking at.
Step 2: Copy the key conclusions from the SWOT Worksheet into the area
provided.
Step 3: For each combination of internal and external environmental factors,
consider how you can use them to create good strategic options:
 Strengths and Opportunities (SO) – How can you use your strengths to
take advantage of these opportunities?
 Strengths and Threats (ST) – How can you take advantage of your
strengths to avoid real and potential threats?
 Weaknesses and Opportunities (WO) – How can you use your
opportunities to overcome the weaknesses you are experiencing?
 Weaknesses and Threats (WT) – How can you minimize your
weaknesses and avoid threats?

TOWS
ANALYSI
S
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Scope for penetration in
emerging economies.
2. Car for everyone.
3. Change of trends.
STRENGHTS
1. Differentiation.
2. The backing of BMW.
3. Emotional Value.
4. Product Placement.
S-O
Increase marketing to
attract consumers to spend.
As one of the most trusted
automakers like BMW
backed up the Mini cooper,
they have the opportunity
to expand the company
globally.
WEAKNESS
1. British Styling.
2. Performance
Issue.
3. Limited Global
Reach.
4. Poor after sales
service.
W-O
The critics in the
performance of the mini
cooper have to tackled
by improving the
internal mechanism.
There should be
availability of spare
parts in the market
whenever required.
 S-T W-T
THREATS

1. Technology.
 Use its strong Increase spending on
financial position to research and
2. Overdependence of development to enable
invest in intellectual
personality. property rights. This BMW to better compete
would help compete with with competition
increasing competition in
the market. Not all the consumers
 Use its innovative will consider the
teams to find cheaper uniqueness of the
alternatives to fuel so product but with the
that these could be used, performance of the
thereby reducing costs. same.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, this marketing plan targets the United
Kingdom market, using the Market Penetration
strategy. The main objective over one year period is to
increase the market share and to increase the
customer’s awareness of the brand. These objectives
can be achieved by using marketing mix strategy and
reinforce brand image campaign.

We recommend that MINI Cooper should consider

repositioning its brand in the long-term development.