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J.D. Power: Mini, Lexus again offer most satisfying sales experience

JD Power has released its annual Sales Satisfaction Index Study, and once again Mini and Lexus have taken top honors. Overall, buyers are more satisfied with the auto-buying sales experience than they were last year, with those surveyed reporting an average score of 664 points on a 1,000-point scale. That's up from 648 in 2011. Dealer satisfaction also increased by five points over last year as well.
All told, Lexus brought home an index score of 737, which was high enough to put it atop the luxury brands for the second year in a row. JD Power says Infiniti came in second in that category with a score of 728 and Cadillac rounded out the podium with it's rating of 725. Speaking of Infiniti, that brand saw the single largest jump in sales satisfaction of any brand on the survey, popping up 52 index points over 2011.
Among mass-market brands, Mini ranked highest with a score of 712, followed closely by Buick with 706 and GMC farther down the line with 683. You can check out the full press release below for more information.

Mini Art Beat is a loud, driving social media billboard

Video billboards are nothing new, but a video on a moving car that's blaring music? Now that's something that will catch your attention - especially if you're driving alongside it in the streets of London.
That's the exact intent of Mini's new Art Beat, a Cooper Countryman turned marketing device that is custom-fitted with a staggering 48,000 LEDs. On its nightly drives through the city, the compact crossover showcases brightly colored videos, graphics and animations contributed by people around the world via social media. The Mini Space Blog describes the Art Beat as the "most vibrant and customizable NOT NORMAL ride you'll ever lay eyes on."

Mini may have overexpanded, some models may not be replaced

Surprise, surprise. According to Edmunds, Mini may be looking to reduce the number of vehicles in its range, which has recently expanded to include a total of seven offerings (not to mention the copious varieties of configurations found within each line). When Mini relaunched in the early 2000s, it did so with one model, the Cooper Hardtop, and has since added the Convertible, Clubman, Countryman, Coupe, Roadster and Paceman. It looks like those ambitions of expanding the range to include up to 10 models may have been a bit optimistic.
"When we start to replace models, I think you will see that we won't replace every model exactly," Jim McDowell, Vice President of Mini USA, told Edmunds in an interview. The brand's core models right now are the Hardtop and Countryman, and of the roughly 66,200 vehicles that Mini sold in the United States last year, these two vehicles accounted for some 75 percent of total sales.
McDowell declined to mention any specific models that may not be replaced in the lineup's next generation, though our best guess is that ultra-niche vehicles like the Coupe (pictured) or Clubman. As for replacing some of the current models with new products, the only clear gap we can see in the brand's lineup is a smaller car like the Rocketman concept, though we've been told several times that a mini-Mini isn't going to happen. Be sure to let us know what Mini models you'd like to see kept or axed in Comments below.