3 minute read - 11th September 2023
BMW Group confirms £600m UK MINI plant investment
BMW Group has announced a new investment of more than £600m in its MINI factories at Oxford and Swindon. The Oxford plant is gearing-up to build two new all-electric MINI models from 2026 – the 3-door MINI Cooper and the compact crossover MINI Aceman. By 2030, production will be exclusively electric and the BMW Group will have spent over £3bn on its Swindon, Hams Hall and Oxford plants since 2000.
The development has been supported by the UK government and will help to secure jobs at the Oxford manufacturing plant and at the body pressing facility in Swindon. The Oxford plant celebrated its 110th anniversary in 2023 and has been producing the current MINI Electric since 2019, where it is fully integrated into the production line with conventional models.
The £600m investment will impact all main production areas in Oxford. The existing production lines will be developed further, with the key changes being an extension of the current body shop and a new area for battery installation. Additional logistics facilities will be built on both the Oxford and Swindon sites.
BMW Group has announced plans to invest more than £600m in its MINI factories at Oxford and Swindon / Picture: BMW Group
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The Oxford factory 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 produce all-electric MINI models exclusively.
Milan Nedeljković, member of the board responsible for production at BMW AG, said: “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.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, added: “BMW Group’s investment is another shining example of how the UK is the best place to build cars of the future. By backing our car manufacturing industry, we are securing thousands of jobs and growing our economy right across the country.”
MINI Plant Oxford employs over 3,400 highly skilled employees and apprentices, who build up to 1,000 MINIs a day – one every 67 seconds. It is the third biggest vehicle producer in the UK and by the end of this year, the plant will have produced over 13 million cars bearing the badges of 14 different brands. Over 500,000 people have worked at this site over the years.
The investment will transform the Oxford plant to all-electric production from 2030 / Picture: BMW Group
The BMW iFACTORY is the strategic plan overarching all BMW Group production sites, with the strapline ‘Lean. Green. Digital’. With the Oxford MINI Plant as a key facility in BMW Group’s transition to electromobility, it is part of the global BMW iFACTORY approach. The Oxford and Swindon plants already use digitalisation and virtual planning tools to configure buildings and systems today, streamlining the planning of logistics routes and material, traffic flows and even the movement of employees. The whole of Plant Oxford and Swindon will be 3D-scanned in minute detail this year to obtain a full set of digital data of both the building and its systems.
The MINI Plant Oxford currently produces the MINI 3-door, the MINI 5-door, as well as the MINI Clubman and the MINI Electric. From 2024, the plant will start producing the next generation MINI 3-door and MINI 5-door with combustion engines, as well as the new MINI Convertible, before they are joined by the new all-electric vehicles in 2026 – the MINI Cooper 3-door and the MINI Aceman.
Markus Grüneisl, CEO of plants Oxford and Swindon, concluded: “I am proud to say that our Oxford and Swindon plants will play a central role in the BMW Group’s transition to electromobility. We are determined to continue the historic success story of our plants, producing the most loved British car brand.”
MINI Plant Oxford employs over 3,400 people and this announcement brings BMW’s total investment at Oxford, Swindon and Hams Hall to £3bn since 2000 / Picture: BMW Group