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Dr Vince Cable addressed company employees
at Oxford, warmly welcoming the new investment, "BMW’s ambitious plans
for MINI will ensure its UK sites at Oxford, Swindon and Hams Hall
remain at the centre of MINI production worldwide. The investment of
£250 million in addition to the £500 million last year demonstrates
BMW’s commitment to the UK and safeguards jobs for the future."
The extra volume for the growth strategy
of the MINI brand and the complexity of new model lines means that
additional production capacity for MINI sales beyond Oxford’s maximum
capacity is needed in the medium term and the company is now considering
how to achieve this.
“Our preferred option is to establish a
contract manufacturer as a satellite production as close to our UK
operations as possible, at the Nedcar plant in The Netherlands, with
whom BMW is in discussions.” explained Krueger. “Oxford will provide
special MINI production expertise for any new operation, particularly in
the areas of dealing with the high complexity and customer individuality
which MINI demands and in operating state-of-the-art, multi-model
production lines. Just as Munich is the centre of the BMW world, Oxford
is and will remain the home and the heart of MINI.”
As the volume and variety of the MINI
model line-up grows, there will be additional production requirements
for engines and body panels from the BMW Group’s specialist UK
facilities in Hams Hall and Swindon. Part of the new investment is to
develop specific production facilities to meet these requirements.
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