Contract For Supply Of BMW Mini Wheels And Tyres Goes To Pirelli

Pirelli Tyres Ltd., based at Burton-on-Trent in the UK, has won the contract to supply all of the wheel and tyre assemblies for BMW’s new Mini. The contract involves conventional and run-flat tyres in sizes from 15″ to 17″ and full production will be reached at the end of June, although the project has already started.

This is the third phase of Pirelli’s wheel and tyre assembly programme – the company has been supplying wheel/tyre assemblies to Jaguar since 1998 – and involves an investment of 1.7 million Pounds, with the creation of 18 jobs. The finished assemblies will be transported directly to BMW’s newly-renovated factory at Oxford.

TYRES & ACCESSORIES understands that brands other than Pirelli will be supplied, but the company was reluctant to reveal details of numbers. The wheels are supplied by the customer. When it comes to run-flat tyres, which system will Pirelli use? The company is currently jointly developing PAX with Michelin, but our information is that Pirelli will be developing its own run-flat tyre (presumably this development is well under way, if the BMW contract starts in June) and that no other manufacturers’ run-flats will be used.