by Zafer Uyanik
The BMW Group will invest more than £600 million ($745 million / €698 million) into developing the Mini brand’s factories at Oxford and Swindon, preparing them for the development of new Mini EVs while helping the Oxford plant transition to all-electric production from 2030. By the same year, the BMW Group expects that it will have spent more than £3 billion ($3.7 billion / €3.49 billion) across its Swindon, Hams Hall, and Oxford plants since 2000.
The Oxford plant itself is preparing to build two new Mini EVs – the three-door Mini Cooper and the Mini Aceman compact crossover. Today it produces the Mini 3-door and Mini 5-door as well as the Mini Clubman and the Mini Electric model. From 2024 the plant will commence manufacturing work on the next-generation ICE MINI 3-door and MINI 5-door models, as well as the new MINI Convertible, before the brand’s new EVs enter production in 2026.
Mini expects the factory to reach an annual production capacity of around 200,000 in the medium term, with ICE and battery-electric vehicles initially being built on the same production line. From 2030, the Oxford Plant will then exclusively produce all-electric Mini vehicles.
Extending its commitment to EV production beyond the UK, the BMW Group highlighted that production of the new Mini Countryman – which will be offered in ICE and EV versions – at its plant in Leipzig is set to begin before October. Likewise, production on two next generation Mini Cooper 3-door and Aceman EVs is set to begin in China at a new manufacturing plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province ahead of exports beginning in early 2024. The plant operates as part of a joint venture between the BMW Group and Great Wall Motor.
In addition to supporting heightened EV production, the BMW Group’s investment will additionally be spent on the further development of the Oxford plant’s existing production lines – including an extension of the current body shop, and a new area for battery installation. The investment will also enable additional logistics facilities to be built on both the Oxford and Swindon sites.
