If the car can be built locally within major customer countries without sacrificing build quality, yet sold at slightly lower costs, I think it could be a good thing for increasing MINI sales. Many people I speak with in Australia think that the purchase price of a Cooper S is too high for what the model is, and has turned them off buying one until newer (larger?) variants are released. Australia’s car production plants in Adelaide have capacity and government subsidies / support available, so it is possible to produce in Australia.

In light of the above, I’m happy with my R50 Cooper S 2002 MINI regardless of where it was built (although my firends and I were of the impression that it was built in Oxford). My MINI dealer always advises me that they wait on spare parts to be shipped from Germany when local supplies run out – it makes you think…

Seriously I’m less interested in where my MINI is built and more interested in the quality of the build.

The MINI is in a niche how the current models (R50, R53, R56, etc) are built in the UK. Other cars are built in such random places in the world and you don’t have a specific home to them. I might be the only one who disagrees with what was said above, but I have also noticed that when I tell customers all the MINIs are built in the UK, at Plant Oxford, they definitely like that idea.

My 2 cents,

My 2002 MC had a cylinder misfire at 40,000 miles costing $4,000 for a new head, 16 valves, and labor. Then at 46,000 miles, a new transmission, clutch, and shift cables were needed costing me $4,100. A $5 seal went bad, so the whole tranmission went bad. Luckily, I bought an after-marker extended warranty, so all I had to pay for was the new clutch. I wonder about the quality from Brasil and Germany-how good is it.

I knew I’d miss at least one off my list!

BCNU, Rob in Dago

Today, you can go to a VW dealership in South Africa and buy a brand new MK1 VW Golf/GTI, in the same body style as the car that was sold here from 1976-1984.

Fantastic cars overall.

The problem here is not whether “Hans” “Jim” or “Carlos” lack or don’t the work ethics and skills to put together a quality product. This has more to do with the corporate culture and their approach to effective quality control processes.

To suggest that a car built in South America is of questionnable quality is a pretty one-sided and prejudiced point of view, at best.

One day, not too far away, most cars for worldwide consumption will be built in China. Yep, that’s right. So if you can’t stomach the sight of your favorite Bimmer, MB or Honda with the “made in china” label sticker, then you might as well forgo ever owning a car again and go back to bicycles or public transportation.

In the scheme of economy of scales, I applaud MINI’s decision to allow MINI to build their products outside the Cowley-Oxford base manufacturing facility. You have to understand that the UK operation is currently bursting at their seams and that Cowley will not be able to either increase production or build added models without significant investment and re-structuring. Quality will suffer too, on a plant building too many models while trying to keep up with fierce customer demand.

If My next MINI is made in Austria, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, etc I will be confident on its quality and reliability. Just look at the 3 series BMW’s built in at the Rosslyn plant in South Africa. They all look as good as its breathen made in Bavaria.

Its all a matter of perspective in this global economy.