A report in a German newspaper says that BMW is considering manufacturing the electric version of its Mini in Regensburg and Leipzig instead of Oxford amid concerns about future trading arrangements when the UK leaves the EU.
A Handelsblatt report cited sources within the company expressing concern over the UK’s exit from the European single market. The single market facilitates admin-free and tariff-free trade across Europe, but the UK government has said it will leave the single market in order to control immigration from other EU countries. Although the UK will be seeking a free trade deal with minimised future trade costs, higher costs on UK-EU trade – tariffs and shipment admin – are a possibility.
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The report said that BMW is looking at its plants in Leipzig and Regensburg as alternatives to Oxford, as well as VDL’s Nedcar Mini plant in the Netherlands.
It also said the company will make a decision in the second half of this year and is planning to talk to the UK government ‘in the coming weeks’.
BMW and other makers with manufacturing plants in the UK are seeking guarantees from the UK government over the competitive position they are faced with after Brexit – the UK leaves the EU in 2019.
Speaking in September 2016, BMW Group CEO Harald Krueger said an electric Mini was under development and due for release in 2019. He did not state where it would be built.
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