Car maker BMW is to invest £500 million in its UK production network, it has been announced.
The company has said it will invest £500 million in UK manufacturing operations over the next three years and has also confirmed that the UK will be a production location for its next generation MINI models.
This takes the company’s investment across all its UK operations to more than £1.5 billion since 2000.
The majority of the investment will be used to create new production facilities and equipment at MINI Plant Oxford, and will help to safeguard over 5,000 jobs in the MINI vehicle assembly plant in Oxford, the pressings plant in Swindon and the company’s engine plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham.
The new MINI Coupé will be launched in 2011, followed by the MINI Roadster in 2012. Both models will be produced in Oxford.
The company has been manufacturing MINIs at Plant Oxford since 2001, during which time nearly two million vehicles have been produced there, with more than 1.5 million MINIs exported to 90 countries worldwide.
The UK is BMW’s fourth-largest market in the world for sales, behind Germany, the US and China, with sales in 2010 across the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands totalling 154,750.
Commenting on the announcement, 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 MINI brand has made a significant contribution to BMW Group’s success in markets around the world and we anticipate that this will grow further in the future.”
The UK’s business secretary Vince Cable commented: "Today's announcement by BMW is a real tribute to the success of British automotive manufacturing. The firm's workforce in Oxford is now set to repeat the international success of the current MINI in producing the next generation model over the coming years.
“The competitiveness of automotive manufacturing in this country is shown by the commitment of the biggest global firms to make serious investments in long-term production here and as a government we are determined to make sure this success story remains a big part of the future economic growth we must secure."
Producing 216,302 vehicles and exporting to more than 90 countries, MINI was the third-largest vehicle manufacturer in the UK in 2010, accounting for 17 per cent of national automotive production.
Internationally, BMW has 24 production sites in 13 countries and a global sales network across more than 140 countries. During the financial year 2010, the company sold 1.46 million cars and more than 110,000 motorcycles worldwide.
As of 31 December 2010, BMW had a workforce of approximately 95,500 employees.
