OXFORD TO REMAIN THE HEART OF MINI PRODUCTION

The BMW Group, which owns the iconic Mini car brand is to build cars in Germany and China, but it says that Cowley in Oxford – where the manufacturer employs 4,000 people – will remain “heart” of production

BMW, which owns the iconic brand, unveiled plans for future Mini production last November, and it’s going global.

The next generation Mini Countryman, to be launched in 2023, will be built at the BMW Group Plant Leipzig, making it the first Mini made in Germany.

Two months previously Mini revealed an increase in sales of 7.9 per cent over the same period last year. EVs now make up more than 15 per cent of global sales.

The number of Mini brand vehicles sold globally in the first nine months of the year rose by eight per cent to a total of 224,838 units.

The all-electric Mini SE3 made a significant contribution to growth, with sales up by 106.6 per cent, the company said.

Together with the Mini Countryman plug-in hybrid 3, they accounted for more than 15 per cent of the brand’s total sales volume worldwide during the nine-month period.

Yasa spinout plans to electrify aerospace

commercialise Yasa’s next-generation electric motor technology and IP for the rapidly growing aerospace market.

All other Mini models, including the Mini Convertible set to launch in 2025, will be produced at the Mini plant in Oxford, which BMW said remains the heart of Mini production and the United Kingdom will continue to be the home of the Mini brand, it added.

However, with the automotive market in China continuing to undergo dynamic growth, Mini set out its ambition to 'move from the status of an import brand to a local manufacturer'.

and adoption of electric flight.

Evolito, based at Kidlington near the city was launched earlier this year by Yasa, the pioneer of automotive axialflux electric motors.

Yasa

The business says its axial-flux motor technology has been proven in volume series production in the automotive industry and has even greater advantages in the aerospace market. As such, Evolito says it is uniquely positioned to drive forward the commercialisation

Evolito’s ultra-high performance, low-weight axial-flux motors and power electronics are smaller, lighter and more robust than other competing technology, opening up a range of new opportunities for Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL), fixed wing and distributed electric propulsion applications such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

From 2023 onwards, the new models of the small-car segment developed for e-mobility will be produced in China.

Production will be located at the newly-constructed automotive plant in the east of the country.

Mini will use the cars produced there to meet the increased demand in China and the other global markets.