BMW Group investing in UK Mini plants

Oxford will remain the home of Mini thanks to a BMW Group investment of more than £600 million in the Mini manufacturing plant at Oxford and body-pressing facility in Swindon. The Department for Business and Trade says this news follows “extensive government engagement and support.”

The Oxford plant is gearing up to build two new all-electric Mini models from 2026, the Mini Cooper 3-door and the compact crossover Mini Aceman. By 2030 production volume will be exclusively electric and the BMW Group will have spent over £3bn on its Swindon, Hams Hall and Oxford plants since 2000.

“With this new investment we will develop the Oxford plant for production of the new generation of electric Minis and set the path for purely electric car manufacturing in the future,” says Milan Nedeljković, member of the BMW AG Board of Management responsible for production.

“This decision is a big vote of confidence in the UK economy and the work of this Government to ensure the continued strength of our world-leading automotive sector,” adds Kemi Badenoch, Business and Trade Secretary. “We are proud to be able to support BMW Group’s investment, which will secure high-quality jobs, strengthen our supply chains and boost Britain’s economic growth.”

110th anniversary

The Oxford plant celebrated its 110th anniversary this year and has been producing the current Mini Electric since 2019 on the production line alongside conventional ICE models. “Mini has always been aware of its history – Oxford is and remains the heart of the brand,” comments Stefanie Wurst, head of the Mini brand. “I am delighted that the two new, fully electric Mini models – the Mini Cooper and Mini Aceman – are also being produced in Oxford, thereby confirming our path to a fully electric future. The continuing high demand for our locally emission-free vehicles shows the openness of the global MINI community to electromobility, which we will be able to serve optimally, also thanks to Oxford.”

Oxford & other sites

The Mini Plant Oxford will reach a production capacity of around 200,000 cars per year in the medium term, with ICE and battery electric vehicles initially being built on the same production line. From 2030, the Oxford Plant will exclusively produce all-electric Mini models.

Production of the new Mini Countryman will begin at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig, Germany in the next few weeks. This larger crossover model will be offered with both pure electric drive and combustion engines. Production of the next generation all-electric Cooper 3-door and Aceman will also begin in China at a plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province built as part of a joint venture with Great Wall Motor. Exports will begin in early 2024.