BMW weighs moving production of new electric Mini away from the UK

Mini
The vast majority of the 200,000 Minis produced in the UK are exported Credit: PA

Electrically powered Minis could be built outside of Britain as BMW considers the future of its massive plant in Oxford.

The German company is launching an all-electric Mini in 2019 and is currently deciding where to base production of the new vehicle.

The company’s Cowley plant had been seen as the leading contender for the work but worries over the impact Brexit could have on UK exports and manufacturing are understood to have put its position in doubt.

Mini production line
BMW has invested £750m in production of the Mini in Britain Credit: PA

German media reported that production may be directed to BMW’s sites in Regensburg or Leipzig, attributing the claims to sources within the company.

A plant in the Netherlands already produces about 20,000 convertible versions of the Mini a year and this could also be in the running. BMW also has about 100,000 Countryman and Paceman Minis built for it each 

The company aims to begin discussions about production of the new Mini with the British Government in the next week, the German report added.

A spokesman for BMW said: “We have not decided where we are going to build the electric Mini, and discussions about it are ongoing with a decision in due course and expected by the end of the year.”

“Many factors” are being considered in the decision over where to make the electric Mini, a source close to the company told The Telegraph, though they added that the likely impact of Brexit was the main one influencing thinking.

However, the slow nature of negotiations about the UK leaving the EU and the two-year window once Article 50 is triggered could work against the Oxford plant.

"How much more we will know what Brexit means by the end of the year, when the decision will come?” the source added.

Mini at Southampton dock
The Mini is a British icon Credit: PA

Each year more than 200,000 Minis roll off the production line at Cowley and BMW has invested more than £750m in the factory and feeder plants in Swindon and Ham Hall. Between them, the three sites employ more than 4,000 staff.

Workers at BMW’s Mini and Rolls-Royce plants are already at odds with management over plans to close the company’s final-salary pension scheme and replace it with a less generous defined-contribution arrangement.

Union Unite is leading talks about finding a compromise but has warned that “serious industrial action” could take place unless a solution is found.

License this content