MINI will be suspending tours of the plant when the new 2007 MINI going into production this August. Tours should resume at some point once the car is introduced to the public at the Paris Autoshow in late September.
Related:
[ Oxford Plant Tour Reader Review ] MotoringFile
[ Oxford Plant Manufacturing Tour ] MotoringFile
[ MINI Motoring Holiday ] MotoringFile
[ Detailed Reader Account of the MINI Plant Tour ] MotoringFile
[ Tours of the MINI Plant ] MotoringFile
[ An Auto Holiday ] MotoringFile
[ Factory Tours Throughout the Years ] MotoringFile
[ Detailed Account of th MINI Plant Tour ] MotoringFile
[ MINI Oxford Plant Tour ] MotoringFile
[ Tours of the MINI Plant in Oxford ] MotoringFile
My local Mini dealer (Classic Mini of Mentor Ohio) is still saying I can order an ’06 Mini Cooper S as late as August or September of this year. Does anyone have any insights if this is true considering news like this? Thank you.
Mark – check out these articles:
<a href="http://motoringfile.com/index.php?s=Production+Timeline" rel="nofollow">MINI 2006/2007 Production Timeline</a>
Thank you Gabe much appreciated!
No problem! As always, lots of info on the upper right side of the MotoringFile front page 🙂
(I posted this elsewhere, but I can repeat myself, right? 🙂 )
While on vacation in the UK last week, I took the MINI factory tour on June 1st, and in the bodyshell assembly portion I came upon a R56 bodyshell just sitting in front of me!
It was sitting on the production floor next to a current bodyshell and I was the only one on the tour who noticed it as being different. It was easy to spot because of the wraparound shaped headlight openings in the hood. The openings for the rear taillights were much wider than the current car, and the wider rear hips (or shoulders) were also noticeable. No big news there if you’ve been following the R56, but it was exciting to see one. I had a minute or so by myself to look over the body and my overall impression was favorable.
They aren’t doing daytime tours now. Our tour was at 7pm in the evening because they didn’t want us to see production of the new R56 which is already being built in small numbers alongside the current MINI during the day. Off the record, one of the tour guides told me the occasional R56 model ran down the bodyshell production line during the day interspersed with the current MINI models (just like a convertible or hardtop version of the current car comes down the line intermittently). I was surprised the production line could handle a new model mixed in with the old ones, but he said the robots were programmed to handle it with no problem. The guides pointed to a new building there that was dedicated to the final R56 assembly which is to run faster than the current production line, helping increase annual production and reduce the customer waiting times for a new MINI. They said these R56 bodyshells being produced now were for evaluation purposes. I guess that means sorting out the new assembly process before the line goes “live“. They also said they would ramp up R56 production in July before the 2-week August shutdown so as to supply dealerships with demo cars when the new model is launched in September.
Cant wait to see the final 2007 Mini Cooper and (hopefully) buy the 2008 MCS!…
My local dealer is also telling me that I can order a ’06 S as late as August, maybe September. What they haven’t been able to tell me is if during this late ordering period the US will be subject to the same ordering limitations that Canada has befallen.
Interesting. I did a plant tour about three weeks ago while in the UK and I was kind of hoping to catch a glimpse of anything 07 model related. Sadly, but not surprisingly, I didn’t see anything. Even the ever friendly tour guides enjoyed some banter with “what new model” replies every time I asked a question. I had think a bit laterally to get some of the answers I wanted. But it was all in good humour.
It was a great experience, and I thoroughly recommend getting along to Oxford if you can.
<blockquote>They said these R56 bodyshells being produced now were for evaluation purposes. I guess that means sorting out the new assembly process before the line goes “live“.</blockquote>
That, but where did you think all those testing mules that keep being photographed come from? 😉