£500m keeps MINI in the UK

By Ken Gibson

13th June 2011

The new MINI won’t only be good for buyers, it will be great for UK manufacturing, too. BMW is ploughing £500million into its Oxford factory to build the next-generation car, securing thousands of British jobs.

It will also mean peace of mind for workers at the engine plant at Hams Hall, near Birmingham, which builds MINI units. And the new three-door hatch is only the start – BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer claims the line-up will continue to expand.

“MINI has made a major contribution to our success around the world,” he said. There will be further additional MINI models – I can imagine 10 in future.”

The line-up is set to include a five-door for the first time, plus a small MPV the size of the Countryman, with sliding doors. That’s in addition to replacements for the Convertible, Clubman and Countryman – and in time, the Coupé and Roadster.

The 3.1-metre-long Rocketman Concept – similar in size to the original Mini – will arrive in 2016. Dr Reithofer said despite extensive trials of the MINI E, there were no plans for an electric car until beyond 2015, but that it would be a plug-in hybrid.

He also mentioned the possibility that MINIs could be built in BMW factories, and BMW products could be made at a MINI plant, when the two brands start to share the third-generation car’s new front-drive platform from 2013. But he insisted the Oxford plant would remain ‘the heart’ of MINI production.