Mini overall winner for holding its value in small car market

IT could be that the best investment on four wheels is a Mini.

This was the result arrived at by German car magazine Auto Bild, which has published the new Value Master ranking in its latest issue.

With the new Mini Cooper five-door, it was not only the Value Master 2015 in the small car category, but also the overall winner of all categories.

This means that the fivedoor and five-seater body version of the new original in the premium small car segment is the model that offers the longest-lasting value on the German automobile market.

The Value Master title is based on a forecast compiled by experts at the market research institute Schwacke which looks at the price that can be obtained in four years’ time for a car that was newly registered in 2015.

An assessment is drawn up for each model that includes not just purchase price and vehicle properties but also numerous other factors such as running costs, time of market launch, brand image and the competitor situation within the segment as well as current trends in the automobile market and general economic developments.

This analysis is used to determine which models offer the most lasting value in 13 vehicle categories.

The new Mini Cooper five-door takes over from the Mini Cooper S Countryman as the Value Master 2015 in the small car segment, the latter having achieved the top ranking in 2014.

In so doing it carries forward the success of the brand, which has dominated the small car category ever since 2005 with models such as the predecessor to the new Mini Cooper threedoor and the Mini Convertible, as well as regularly coming first in the overall ranking.

The current forecast gives the new Mini Cooper five-door an estimated resale value of 65.6 per cent of the original price.

This is the highest percentage residual value of all models analysed this year.

The Value Master ranking is an important decision-making aid to potential new car buyers.

It indicates which models exhibit less difference between their original price and resale value and can therefore be regarded as a sound investment.

The stability forecasts for Mini models are always especially favourable, showing that the original in the premium small car segment is highly popular in the used car market, too.

The success of the new Mini Cooper five-door shows that this tendency applies likewise to the latest model generation.