BMW To Build New Mini's In UK

BMW confirm next generation of Minis will be built in the UK

The UK car manufacturing industry received a boost earlier this week when BMW confirmed that the next generation of the iconic Mini model will be built in the UK.

The German manufacturer announced that it would build the next generation Mini at its Crowley plant in Oxford, effectively securing 5000 jobs at its Oxford plant as well as at its Birmingham and Swindon bases over the next 3 years. The announcement ties in with BMW's pledge to invest £500 million in the UK automobile production industry in the coming years.

'The Mini plant in Oxford has been one of our great manufacturing success stories, they should be hugely proud of their achievements. They have shown once again that the UK is a major player in the global automotive industry,' commented David Cameron.

It's thought the £500 million investment will be spent on improving production techniques and facilities for the new Mini range. There were fears that Mini production would move outside of the UK, however BMW decided to leave the bulk of the production in the UK, describing UK workers as 'oustanding'.

'We have started preparing our UK plants for production of the next generation Mini and this investment underlines that the UK will remain the heart of Mini production. The Mini brand has made a significant contribution to the BMW group’s success in markets around the world and we anticipate this will grow even further,' commented BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer.

Before the new generation of Minis are released, BMW has plans to release two new models of the existing Mini models. It's thought a new version of the Mini Coupe will be released later this year, while a new look Mini Roadster is expected to be released in 2012.

'This brand is all set to continue to grow. Mini has gone from being an individual model to a band of cars and we’ve not finished yet. Even though a final decision on adding a car based on our Rocketman concept still has to be taken, I think production is a distinct possibility – we’re keen to reintroduce the two-seater sports car,' announced product and planning manager Lee Connoll.

BMW's pledge to stay in the UK comes just days after Nissan announced similar plans. Last week the Japanese brand confirmed it will invest £192 million into the British production industry and safeguard 6,000 jobs at its Sunderland plant by producing the latest version of the successful Nissan Qashqai model in the UK.