BMW has announced its new Mini will be produced in Oxford with a 20 per cent expansion in capacity to 240,000 cars a year as part of a £200m UK investment. It will also create 450 new jobs
BMW said the worldwide success of the Mini over the past five years prompted it to invest heavily in its UK manufacturing operations for the new model. It has created a “Mini production triangle” in the UK linking its plants in Oxford, Swindon and Hams Hall near Birmingham.
Each of these plants received substantial investment from BMW Group to build the new model. As production levels rise, up to 250 new jobs will be created at Hams Hall and 200 jobs at Oxford.
The Oxford assembly plant has received over £100m to expand production levels from 200,000 to 240,000 units a year in the medium term. Plant Swindon was awarded £60m for Mini body pressing and sub-assembly technologies. Hams Hall received nearly £30m to build an advanced family of petrol engines especially for Mini and previously sourced from Brazil.
BMW Group has re-located significant components, such as engines, to the UK. The UK-based supply industry is also benefiting with key, large-scale components, known as modules, being sourced from within the UK.
Nanogenerator consumes CO2 to generate electricity
Whoopee, they've solved how to keep a light on but not a lot else.