MINI F56 Cooper Hardtop Deliveries Halted in the US

Has anyone heard anything as to why ?


http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mini-f56-cooper-hardtop-deliveries-halted-in-the-us-91498.html


MINI F56 Cooper Hardtop Deliveries Halted in the US


In a rather interesting turn of events, the US-bound MINI dealerships halted all deliveries of 2014 and 2015 MINI F56 Cooper models until further notification reports BMW Blog. At the moment the exact reason for this hold-up wasn’t specified but there is an official point of view that sheds some light into the matter.

“MINI has issued a stop delivery order on certain MY 2014/2015 MINI Cooper Hardtops (not Cooper S) as we investigate a potential regulatory compliance issue,” said a statement from the US MINI branch.

At the moment, however, the ‘issue’ is not known leaving us to wonder how many of the cars that were already delivered are also dealing with it.

“We are acting swiftly to work with the appropriate regulatory agency to assure our vehicles meet all industry standards, and are committed to maintaining our customer’s confidence in their vehicles. We will advise our dealers and customers with more details as they are finalized,” the statement also said.

Since the cars are extensively tested by the American authorities in the car industry field it’s rather odd to see this blockade being put into place. The Mk3 MINI is also featuring a completely new platform (dubbed UKL) and if the regulatory issues are more than skin deep, things could get rough for BMW.

That’s because the company plans to import even more cars using this platform in the US, the new X1 included. Chances for such a thing to happen are rather small however, and most likely the ‘issue’ surrounds some small detail concerning fuel consumption, CO2 emission or some other legal problem.

It’s also an intriguing issue that could further damage the MINI sales in the US that are already falling behind. Over the course of 2014 the MINI sales have gone down 15.6 percent compared to 2013. Add this little fiasco to the mix and signs are definitely not looking good.