Justin Tomlinson this week welcomed the news of a further £250m investment by the BMW Group in its UK manufacturing operations. The money will be channelled into its plants in Swindon, Oxford and Hams Hall in order to support the company’s international growth strategy for the MINI brand.
The new MINI has proved an international success, such that current manufacturing capacity cannot keep up with demand. Increasing volumes and up to 10 different models in the new line-up means that this additional investment is needed to keep pace with the car’s success.
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 demand.
The investment comes on top of the £500m UK investment announced in June 2011 and means additional job security for the 5500 UK associates working in the MINI UK Production network. This brings the total BMW Group UK investment to £1.75 billion since 2000.
Justin Tomlinson MP said “This investment is fantastic news for UK car manufacturing and for Swindon. This is the first time since I was born in 1976 that our car exports are greater than our imports and the iconic MINI is a large part of this.
“This commitment to the future of MINI manufacturing in the UK is excellent for Swindon, giving our local plant workers job security and seeing fantastic investment in our local manufacturing capability and our skilled workforce.”