BMW stops production of electric MINI in UK, shifts to China
- Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, which is in partnership with BMW, will manufacture the electric MINI vehicles at its Leipzig factory.
BMW will stop production of its electric MINI cars in the United Kingdom and will move the manufacturing to China. BMW is planning to shift the production to its joint venture there. According to a report by the Times, BMW manufactures around 40,000 electric, MINI vehicles a year at its factory outside Oxford. The premium automaker will pause manufacturing by the end of the year.
The Chief of BMW MINI Stefanie Wurst shared that the company's Oxford factory has been running inefficiently as it manufactures electric and petrol cars on the same line. Wurst added that the plant needed renovation and investment to build electric vehicles as the old assembly lines have been stripped off. However, she shared that no date has been decided when the brand will be back in the UK.
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The report stated that BMW will continue to assemble MINIs with internal combustion engines in the UK into the 2030s for export to the US, Japan and the Middle East while electric MINIs will be manufactured by the luxury automaker's joint venture partner Great Wall Motor Co Ltd. and at its factory in Leipzig.
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Meanwhile, BMW with a focus on its electrification plans is planning to diversify its portfolio. The Bavarian automaker has aimed to bring in i1 and i2 entry-level electric vehicles by 2028. After noting the success of its i3 small electric hatchback, the automaker wants to grab that segment again along with the top positions with its wide range of electric vehicle offerings that it planned to introduce in the upcoming years. Reportedly, the BMW i1 and BMW i2 will not feature a rear-wheel drive layout like the BMW i3. These EVs will be based on the automaker's upcoming Neue Klasse architecture.
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