BMW has announced investment plans of £600 million in the production of two electric vehicles at its UK Mini factory in Oxford. The investment is planned from 2026 and aims to support 4,000 jobs in the UK automobile sector and facilitate the plan for the Oxford plant to only manufacture electric vehicles by 2030.
The MINI Cooper and the new MINI Aceman compact crossover will be produced at the Oxford plant, the BMW Group has confirmed after a period of uncertainty. Beginning in 2026, production will eventually limit itself to producing just all-electric MINIs by 2030.
The Oxford facility, which this year marked its 110th birthday, began producing the current MINI Electric in 2019. This model is completely integrated into the same production line as the ICE (combustable) versions. The MINI 3-door, MINI 5-door, MINI Clubman, and MINI Electric are all now made at MINI Plant in Oxford. The new all-electric MINI Cooper 3-door and MINI Aceman join them in 2026.
In the medium term, the facility will be able to produce about 200,000 cars annually, initially producing both ICEs and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the same assembly line. The Oxford Plant will exclusively make electric MINI vehicles starting in 2030.
Where the batteries for the new MINIs Oxford will be made are still unknown. Regulations of Origin Due to Brexit trade laws, means that vehicles with batteries made outside of the UK or the EU will be subject to high import taxes starting in 2019; this might result in a 10% tariff on trade between the UK and the EU. BMW is one of many companies urging the EU and the UK to delay or scale back those measures.
Over 3,400 workers and trainees at the MINI Plant Oxford produce up to 1,000 MINIs per day, or one every 67 seconds. The company will have produced more than 13 million cars with the logos of 14 different brands by the end of this year, making it the third-largest vehicle maker in the UK.
Image Source: mini.co.uk
