Mini move to safeguard 5,000 UK jobs
BMW will build its next generation of Minis in Britain in a move that will help safeguard more than 5,000 jobs, the company said today.
The German car giant said it would be investing another £500m in UK car manufacturing in what David Cameron said was a “tremendous vote of confidence” in the workforce.
New production facilities and equipment are to be installed at the Mini assembly base in Oxford, the pressings plant in Swindon and its engine plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham.
The announcement came as the Prime Minister prepared to meet the board of directors of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) in Downing Street this morning.
Yesterday Nissan said it was investing £192m to build the next version of its Qashqai model in Britain. That is expected to safeguard 6,000 UK jobs.
Mr Cameron said the announcements were evidence that the Government was helping rebalance the British economy with a strengthened manufacturing sector.
“The production and export of iconic British cars like the Mini is making a real contribution to the rebalancing of the economy that this government is determined to achieve,” he said.
“It’s a tremendous vote of confidence in the skills and capabilities of the company’s British workforce and in the future of UK manufacturing.
“The Mini plant in Oxford has been one of our great manufacturing success stories, they should be hugely proud of their achievements. They have shown once again that the UK is a major player in the global automotive industry.”
The new Mini coupe is to be launched in 2011 and the Mini Roadster in 2012. Both are to be produced in Oxford, where more than two million Minis have been built since 2001 – three-quarters of them for export.
The company said it had invested £1.5bn in the UK since 2000.
BMW group chairman Norbert Reithofer said: “We have started preparing our UK plants for production of the next generation Mini and this investment underlines that the UK will remain the heart of Mini production.”
The Prime Minister’s meeting with directors of the ACEA comes ahead of its annual conference, which is to be held for the first time in London.
The gathering is bringing together representatives from vehicle manufacturers including Fiat, Volvo, Renault, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Toyota in the capital.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the conference demonstrated “the growing international recognition of our automotive industry and the interest in our national ambition to generate growth in the whole advanced manufacturing sector”.
The Nissan and BMW announcements showed “the strength and competitiveness of our automotive sector, the skills base that drives our economy and the ambition of the business community to secure long-term growth, which we are taking every available step to support”.
