BMW may add German production of the expanding Mini range when the next generation is launched, supplementing its Oxford plant here in the UK, a British newspaper reported.
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The automaker recently confirmed it would build the new coupe and roadster derivatives shown at last month’s Frankfurt show at Plant Oxford, the much-updated former Rover plant at Cowley it took over in the mid-1990s, along with the former Pressed Steel pressings plant in Swindon. It also builds some I4 engines at a plant near Birmingham.
BMW assembles around 200,000 Mini models annually in the UK but the plant [which has in the past operated almost around the clock] will soon reach capacity and a new production line will be needed, the Independent on Sunday said , adding that BMW was thought to be looking at production at its Regensburg plant in Germany where 3m BMWs have now been assembled by 10,000 workers.
It is likely to add capacity there rather than in Oxford because of currency exchange rates and other costs that will make it more competitive, the paper said.
BMW’s head of car production, Frank-Peter Arndt, told the paper: “In the longer term, given the strong growth of the Mini brand, we will have to think about a further production site. We could imagine a German factory for the production of Mini-based models.”
BMW has already said it will build a planned crossover variant of the Mini, previously shown as a ‘concept’, at Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz, Austria.
BMW director Ian Robertson said: “Since the re-launch, we have sold around 1.5m Minis. After record sales in 2008, Mini sales in 2009 are almost at the same level as last year. Recent months have seen positive developments in key markets such as Germany, the UK and Italy.”
