Interestingly this Autocar article is the first mention of even further expansion of the MINI plant in Oxford possibly later in the decade. Here’s an excerpt:
It was revealed that BMW bosses have been investigating the possibilities of even greater expansion by the end of the decade. But moving a proportion of Mini production overseas has been ruled out for at least three years, and Minis will never be built in BMW plants.
The new Mini will have a substantially modified architecture, which is said to be more easily adaptable for creating new models. A two-seater roadster is on the agenda, along with a much-rumoured station wagon.
<p>I’d love to see the roadster come to life. I bet that would look really cool and be really fun. What an awesome beach car that would be — Then again, there is the convertible. I think whatever the powers-that-be at MINI come up with it’ll be all about fun.</p>
<p>I wonder if we’ll ever see a MINI factory in North America. </p>
<p>lets hope not. i like the quality the way it is now. if it does happen i might have to think twice about getting another mini. </p>
<p>mini vanilli,
Why do you assume that build quality would be reduced if MINI built a plant in the USA? I can think of several “import” brands that have production facilities here in the USA that build very high quality vehicles. Namely Subaru (Legacy/Ouback)and BMW where the Z3 was one of the first products built here.</p>
<p>Craig,</p>
<p>Most foreign marques that build in the NA have higher than average quality, but keep in mind that Nissan builds its large trucks (Titan, Armada, etc.) here in the USA and have had numerous quality problems compared to their imported brethren. Also, VW as a brand has major quality issues and they build in Mexico.</p>
<p>Mini Vanilli,</p>
<p>I think BMW would take care to make sure quality remains as high here as it would in any other plant. I’ll give the previous MINI teething issues a pass.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, BMW has a plant in the U.S.</p>
<p>They build the X5 and the Z4 in Spartanburg South Carolina. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bmwusfactory.com/">BMWUSFactory.com</a></p>
<p>Not to “pile on” Mini Vanilli, but Honda has US plants and they are well known for their quality. It is insulting to those who work in the US auto industry to assume they are incapable of doing a quality job.</p>
<p>(That said, I do recall a story years ago when College football star Brian Bosworth told how he would tape washers on a string into the door panels of vehciles he worked on while doing assembly line work just to annoy the new owner.)</p>
<p>Now that MINI sales in the USA are such a big part of BMW’s overall sales picture, they may build them in NA, if the dollar keeps dropping to the point where it gets too expensive to sell MINI’s at an acceptable price point.</p>
<p>I woudn’t mind a NA factory. No long trip across the pond required to see MINIs being made.</p>