MINI Plant Oxford To Close for Construction

Sections: In the Press Jul 31st, 2006 10 Comments

As reported previously, BMW will be halting production for a couple of weeks while it puts the finishing touches on plant remodelling in anticipation of full R56 production. You can read more about it from the Sunday Times:

Last year Oxford built 200,119 Minis. Helmut Panke, who retires next month after four boom years as BMW chairman, predicts that production will rise to 230,000 over the next few years. BMW is spending Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100m on expanding the Oxford facility and expects to create an additional 200 jobs there by the end of next year.

But, like the original BMC Mini of the 1960s, the car is not very profitable. Bernd Pischetsrieder, a former BMW chief who now heads VW, once described the sales margin as ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œunacceptableÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â and wanted to set the Mini CooperÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s price higher than the Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£11,600 at its 2001 launch.

[ BMW to Boost MINI Production ] Sunday Times

Written By: Gabe

SB

I have been given a “week 36″ build date (which is the first week in September) for a new 06′ MINI JCW. Does anybody know if the plant closing will push my build back even farther … or has this closing been planned for some period of time?
Paul Kain

I took a plant tour mid June while on vacation in the UK. The reception area for the tours was completely gutted and empty. Our tour guides told us the plant will have a little over 400 robots in the production facility when the expansion is completed.

We were in the final assembly part of the plant for about an hour and 30 minis were completed in that time according to the digital display in the plant.

We saw several new buildings on the plant grounds that were nearing completion. It was incredible to see the level of sophistication that goes into building these cars. All the parts were arriving just in time to be assembled into the cars. Lots of trucks constantly arriving with all the parts.
Brandon

SB – check the first three words of the story ;)
http://www.gbmini.net Ian C.

I’d love to know more about this “unacceptable margin” comment – what in the new MINI makes it “cheaper and simpler to make”?
SB

Brandon – Thank you for all you’ve done. :-) Allow me to rephrase. Does anybody know if the plant closing (which was dully reported on previously) was planned so well a year ago, that they knew they’d have no production in weeks 33 and 34 of August 2006 … OR did they say to themselves “At some point in the late 2nd quarter of 2006, we’ll need to shut down and re-tool, and this will push the remaining 06′ build dates back about 2 weeks”? Though I know the retooling is in preparation for the production of 07 cars, it’s unclear to me if the factory will continue building any 06′s after the retooling.
Nick

To all concerened, the factory closure will not delay the production of MINIs. However, it has severly decreased the monthly allocation to each dealership. MINI Delearships only received an allocation of 15 to 20 MINIs for August Production. This is very small compared to the usual 40 to 50 MINIs. When late September comes around, most MINI lots should be empty.

The 2006 Hardtop will be built through October for the United States. 2007 Hardtop production for the US Market will begin in December and should reach dealerships in February. Most dealerships will be receiving around 12 units for the first month.
Siddhartha

So instead of raising prices to create a more acceptable margin, Pischetsrieder has decided to make the new version “simpler and cheaper” and charge the same for it. Oh my! I’m glad I have my ’05.
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabe

Siddhartha – BMW have made every BMW 3 series simpler and cheaper than it’s predecessor since the E30 in the 80′s. If done well, it should have no bearing on how the car looks, feels and performs to the consumer.
Lee

Given that price drives both ends of the car business — production and sales — it makes a lot of sense to reduce the number of parts, as BMW and other manufacturers have discovered.

There are a lot of places in a first-generation car where one part could have done the job of two or three. The new part might be more complex, but cheaper to make and install than multiple parts. Furthermore, a single part is oft-times less likely to rattle or fail than several parts fastened together.

A better part for less money: The stakeholders and the customers benefit. What’s to complain about?
me

Actually it is affecting the week 33 builds, since I am one of them… Don’t know about other weeks… My completion date is about 1 and a half weeks longer than it should be… It appears to be the body shop portion where the delay is. Doesn’t bother me any since I want a September delivery anyways…

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