OXFORD, England — BMW may be expanding production of the Mini family into more factories as the U.K. facility runs up against capacity limitations. That's the word from sales and marketing board member Ian Robertson.
The Mini is currently produced at the company's Oxford plant in England, and the upcoming SUV version will shortly enter production at Magna's facility in Graz, Austria, but Robertson has hinted at the possibility that Mini brand models could be produced in other plants.
A major reason for this is that the landlocked British factory cannot produce more than 250,000 cars annually. Robertson did not say which factories — although Spartanburg might be a possibility given that the U.S. is the biggest market for the Mini — or what the extensions to the range might be, other than to hint that a future direction might be downmarket of the existing car rather than up.
Inside Line says: The reborn Mini has been a huge success, but BMW needs to extend its appeal if the brand is to remain viable in the long term. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent
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perrito says:
10:54 AM, 12/04/2009
Whatever - I'd rather have a dealer near me, than a production plant - but good for them.
guy1974 says:
10:02 AM, 12/04/2009
Richard - could you explain why Mini has to expand beyond 250,000 a year to "be viable". The SUV is being built in Austria as you state. If Mini have a capacity cap it means they can enforce their pricing and not give incentitves. Therefore they stay profitable - pricing control not quantity is the key thing, which GM and others are finally realising.