MINI

2019 ASG AWARDS: Best Social Performance Brand

NOTEWORTHY ASG FINDING: From a social performance perspective – considering the rights of those charged with vehicle manufacture and assembly – MINI demonstrated the best corporate social responsibility initiatives, earning ASG’s Best Social Performance Brand award for 2019.


Collections: 2019 BEST BRANDS

Type: CAR


This marks the second year that MINI is recognized by ASG for adopting and implementing progressive corporate social responsibility initiatives that make a difference across its supply chain. ASG’s Study assessed labor policies and practices, as well as environmental commitments of 32 automotive brands with sales in North America, to measure corporate commitments to socially responsible business conduct, and MINI's car lineup outperformed all other brands in 2019. 

ASG found the MINI brand to embody the highest level of protection for environmental justice along its production and distribution chain. 

MINI assembles vehicles destined for the U.S. market in the UK and the Netherlands, both countries with exceptional labor and environmental protections. While consumers expect to pay a price premium for the build quality of the brand, they are paying for more than just well assembled vehicles, they are paying the real cost to build vehicles with care for the people tasked with vehicle assembly and with care for the global environment. This is a model that has served MINI and BMW, its parent company, well, and is a winning model for corporate social responsibility.


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RELATIVE RATING METHOD

The Automotive Performance Index (API) applies statistical methods to demonstrate each vehicle rating in relative comparison. For example, the vehicle that performs highest in environment performance in a given class obtains a rating score of 100. Each vehicle in its class is then compared relative to the top-performing vehicle with a rating score reflecting the statistical difference in performance outcomes. A score of 91 translates to a 9% environmental performance deficit as compared to the top-performing vehicle.  

Due to the API’s relative vehicle rating method, vehicle class divisions were identified as a critical input - these class divisions are detailed here.

While the Automotive Performance Index is indeed an exhaustive list of vehicles to trim level detail, with each vehicle assessment reporting over 200 unique data outputs (the culmination of thousands of data inputs), ASG has taken additional measures to ease the burden of sorting through all data points and all vehicle assessments. We have developed key performance categories and sorted all vehicles in each class according to Environmental Performance, Social Performance, Economic Performance and All-Around Performance. The vehicle in each class with the best score in each unique category is named the performance award winner (i.e. Best Environmental Performance Award winner). The vehicle in each class that scores highest combined scores in Environmental Performance, Social Performance and Economic Performance is named the ASG Best All-Around Performance Award winner.

One step further, we also name the Best 5 All-Around Performance Award winners in each class to provide consumers with a concise product comparison guide.