The Pepper White MINI Cooper S Convertible destined for its owner in Australia was the 766,290th vehicle built at the plant since MINI production started in April 2001. Nearly all MINIs manufactured at the plant are built to a specific customer order.
It is the first time that the plant has built over 200,000 units in one year since 1988.
The Oxford plant’s managing director Dr Anton Heiss said: “We’re delighted to have reached this important milestone in line with the demands of the market. BMW Group Plant Oxford has beaten its initial forecast of a maximum production volume of 100,000 units every full production year since MINI’s launch and has now doubled that figure in 2005.
“It’s thanks to the hard work, flexibility and commitment from the plant’s associates that we have been able to achieve this. It’s a great way to end the year for everyone at the plant.”
The plant’s growth in recent years has been based on continuous efficiency improvements in the production process and innovative working time models.
Between 2000 and 2004, the BMW Group invested a total of £280 million in the production of MINI vehicles in Oxford. In February of this year it was announced that a further £100 million is to be invested by 2007 adding a further 200 jobs to the plant’s existing workforce of 4,500.
Most of this investment is in further optimisation of production capacities, allowing the plant to react to the high demand for MINI throughout the world, as well as increasing production flexibility of the various MINI model variants.
To allow this work to progress and minimise disruption to production, the plant is extending its Christmas shutdown and will re-open on 13 January 2006.
MINI UK Press
I wonder how often a car manufacture reaches double its projections?
So is this Christmas shutdown the shutdown that we’ve been hearing about here on MF or is this in addition to the plant upgrade shutdown in January 2006?
As essentially special-order cars, it’s a notable achievment to push a couple hundred thousand MINIs out the door in one year. I doubt it’s been done before, and this is the most remarkable aspect for me.
BCNU,
Rob in Dago
That is an amazingly high number… If the plant was running 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, it would be cranking out about 23 cars an hour… Thats a busy plant… my thanks go out to those hard workers and the guys who designed the plant…
I took delivery of my MINI this past Saturday, and I’m delighted to be one of the 200000. It’s amazing that they upped the output that much AND maintained (if not improved) their level of quality. Kudos to those at MINI/BMW!
Something to be said for German efficiency or is that stereotypical and not PC? You think GM/Ford are drooling?
Let’s see: 766,290 units at a conservative average price of $20,000 per unit is a whopping 15.3 billion dollars gross income . . . And there are still waiting lists. No wonder BMW group is investing in plant expansion!
Whoa! According to ASK MINI, my 2006 MCSc was to be assembled the first week of January and was slated to leave production on January 18. I was hoping to miss the plant shut-down but this article suggests that I may have hit the middle of it….
<blockquote>Something to be said for German efficiency or is that stereotypical and not PC?</blockquote>
Remember; it is made in Oxford, England chaps. Rule Britannia!
Is the MINI the only car ever to have increased sales volumes each year since introduction? I read somewhere that this was true! Incredible! My kudos go to the original design team who created our much loved baby with such clear vision. Here’s hoping that the all-new MINI will continue this winning streak!