BMW has been producing electric versions of the Mini for a little while, but has recently announced that starting in 2023 it would be stopping to relocate production to China. The main reasoning was put down to the fact that the current Cowley factory in Oxford isn’t that well equipped to deal with EV production.
However, this week a German publication Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung has reported that it has learned that BMW is considering revamping the existing Mini factory in order to better support the manufacturing of EVs. According to the publication, the board of directors at BMW wants a decision made before the end of this year.
The main reason cited behind looking to continue making cars at Cowley is down to capacity. The Great Wall factory in China as well as the factory in Leipzig are reported to not have enough capacity, as an all electric Mini Countryman is to start production in Leipzig soon.
BMW CFO Nicolai Peter has been quoted to say that the existing Cowley plant in Oxford would remain at the “heart of Mini production” but this was in referencer to the upcoming and existing combustion versions of the car. BMW has been the owner of the Cowley factory since 1994 since it took over Rover.
A decision is expected to be made by the end of the year, so we should know more about it come then. Be sure to check back to the interface for more information,
