New car sales may not be at an all-time high nowadays, but some brands are churning out sales with pretty impressive numbers. Mini, unfortunately, isn’t one of those companies. It’s struggling to make sales this year. However, it’s not the worst because Jaguar is beating it out in terms of low sales volume. How poorly is each brand doing, why are sales down, and is there anything that can be done?

Jaguar vs. Mini sales for 2023

According to GoodCarBadCar, the Mini brand isn’t doing so well. So far this year, Mini has only sold 14,868 vehicles, which is only a couple thousand more than the 12,306 it sold in the first half of 2022. For the second quarter, it sold 7,585 units, which is barely an improvement over Q1 sales. 

Those figures are pretty dismal, but it isn’t the only brand struggling to make decent sales figures. Jaguar, a brand that’s been around for quite some time, isn’t doing that great in the U.S. either. In fact, it’s worse. So far this year, Jaguar has sold a total of 4,369 units for the first six months of 2023. 

When you look at the first and second quarterly sales figures, Jaguar didn’t improve from one to the next. Instead, it fell from 2,584 sales for the first three months to almost a thousand units fewer in the last three months. Sales were also low in 2022 as well, but last year’s figures were slightly better. 

What is causing low sales figures for both brands?

When you look at the 2023 Mini Cooper, you see a vehicle with decent engine options that should satisfy many people. Plus, it comes with a manual transmission, which you don’t see too much of nowadays. There are, however, a few points that may detract drivers from purchasing one of these small cars. 

While it may be fun to drive, riding in one, at least in the back, is not so fun. The rear legroom is 30.8 inches, which is pretty cramped compared to the front seats’ 41.4 inches. Mini’s ride quality is a bit too firm, making riding in it a little uncomfortable. Also, the pricing is too steep for many people. The starting price for a Cooper model is $23,400, according to U.S. News. It can go as high as $40,650 to start for the higher trims. 

Jaguars are known for premium luxuriousness and performance. However, its biggest weakness is poor reliability scores. Some of its models were plagued with electrical and engine issues, which can be costly repairs. 

When you’re spending quite a bit of money on a vehicle, you don’t want to be forking over more of it on repairs, especially when it will cost you a couple thousand to fix. Even Jaguar’s I-Pace model recently dealt with spontaneous fire recalls, in which the brand did the right thing and reimbursed many owners for repairs done at the driver’s expense before the recall came out.

How can Jaguar and Mini sales figures improve?

While the price of Mini vehicles begin on the low side, when you start adding options, the Mini Cooper model gets very expensive. It might help if the brand would offer more standard features or add many items in bundles that an owner can opt-in for less than what it would cost to implement them one by one. 

Also, reworking the suspension system might be a good idea, so it can handle potholes and road bumps a bit easier instead of shaking around vigorously. As for the rear seat problem, there’s not much that can be done unless they add a bit to the length of the vehicle or shorten the legroom of the front seats a smidge to add a few more inches to the rear seats. 

With Jaguar, improving its reliability will be key to making more sales. While it appears that the newer models are getting better, it will take some time to gain the trust of its consumer base, so they’ll be more motivated to buy. 

Both Mini and Jaguar are seeing poor sales this year and it may be for good reasons. With some improvements in certain areas, both automakers could see an improvement in sales in the next few years.