UK (Commonwealth) _ BMW announced that it will invest 600 million pounds ($750 million) in its UK plants to make its Mini brand all-electric by 2030, providing a boost to the British auto industry after years of Brexit-related uncertainty.
The funds will be used to upgrade the Oxford factory to facilitate electric MINI production as the brand strives to go 100% electric in the coming years. BMW Group announced today that its investment in MINI’s UK production will assist the compact automaker in “gearing up” to build the two new aforementioned electrified cars beginning in 2026.
BMW stated that by 2030, the Group’s investment in its Swindon, Hams Hall, and Oxford plants in the United Kingdom will have surpassed £3 billion since 2000. The Oxford facility, in particular, has only been producing electric MINIs since 2019, but it will be celebrating its 110th anniversary this year. EV production, however, will not only continue, but will expand. Stefanie Wurst, MINI’s CEO, elaborated:
MINI has always been conscious of its heritage; Oxford is and will always be the brand’s heart. I am overjoyed that the two new, fully electric MINI models – the MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman – are also manufactured in Oxford, ensuring our road to a fully electric future. The continued great demand for our locally emission-free vehicles demonstrates the global MINI community’s willingness to embrace electromobility, which we will be able to serve excellently due to Oxford.
While the Oxford plant prepares for more EV manufacturing, MINI says manufacture of the future Cooper 3-door and Aceman will begin in China, with exports beginning in early 2024. Electric MINI manufacture will take place alongside combustion BMW vehicles such as the five-door and Clubman from 2026 to 2030.
The German luxury carmaker will produce two electric models at its Mini plant in Oxford beginning in 2026: the Mini Cooper 3-door and the tiny crossover Mini Aceman. According to BMW production chief Milan Nedeljkovic, the plant will only produce electric vehicles by 2030, with many of them exported to markets around the world.
Speaking to media in Oxford, Nedeljkovic stated that the business intends to employ European-made batteries in the new Oxford models, but did not specify whether they would come from the UK, stating that it depends on the attractiveness of the market to its suppliers.
The same two models will be manufactured in China, and shipments will begin in 2024. Speaking in Oxford as well, British business minister Kemi Badenoch stated that the UK wants auto manufacturing to be the finest in the world, and this is part of that tale.
Badenoch declined to comment on the amount of subsidies that BMW will receive for Mini manufacture, which has been reported in British media to be 75 million pounds. BMW will also invest in its Swindon facility, which manufactures parts for Mini cars. It was too early to predict what would happen to the engine factory in Hams Hall, near Birmingham. According to Nedeljkovic.
The original Mini, which was small, fast, and affordable, went on sale in 1959 and has remained popular under BMW since the brand was revived in 2001, but its future in the UK has been uncertain for years, exacerbated by fears that Brexit would prompt the company to relocate production to Germany, China, or elsewhere.
Still, the sector is on edge, with both British and European carmakers lobbying for a delay in the adoption of post-Brexit “rules of origin,” which require 45% of the value of an EV sold in the European Union to come from the UK or the EU starting in 2024 in order to avoid taxes.
