Back in March at the start of the UK lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic, we reported that Mini had made the decision to close its factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire. At the time, Mini were hoping to reopen the factory as well as the other in Europe by April, but obviously that didn’t happen due to the ongoing pandemic.

This week, BMW said that production is expected to start again on the 18th May, however with a “staggered approach” at first. A spokesperson from BMW spoke to the BBC and said:

“The plant ramp-ups will be oriented towards the market. The exact dates for the restart are geared towards development in the markets and customer demand. There are some first positive tendencies, but uncertainties continue to exist in many markets, for example due to the repeated changes in the opening regulations for retailers. For us specifically it means that Oxford is expected to gradually resume production starting on 18 May 2020 at the earliest.”

BMW, speaking to the BBC