BMW Will Shift More MINI Production to Europe in Case of Hard Brexit
Over the past few weeks reports have emerged about BMW’s contingency plans for MINI production around Brexit. We’ve reported that BMW intends to close the Oxford MINI the factory for weeks after Brexit happens on March 29th. On paper MINI is simply moving its standard summer maintenance period to coincide with the Brexit date as uncertainty grows around the various trade deals which may or may not be completed. However BMW also has another plan if things get messy.
According to Reuters, BMW sees a 50:50 chance of Britain leaving the European Union without a trade agreement, which would force it to shift more production of MINI vehicles to the Netherlands, Chief Executive Harald Krueger said on Tuesday.
“I told (UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the European Union that if there is a hard Brexit, both sides are losers. We will no longer fulfill trade agreements and then we are forced to build the car in the Netherlands,” Krueger told journalists at the Paris Motor Show.
“Hard Brexit is currently not our main scenario but we are preparing for it. We see a 50:50 chance.”
What does this mean for someone looking to order a new MINI next year? While we can’t imagine production issues lasting more than a few weeks (even in a worse case scenario where BMW ups production in the Netherlands), we can imagine it could delay some orders. Our recommendation is to simply get order in to dealers for February or early March MINI production.
It’s a bit of an insurance policy if there’s still negotiating happening on key trade deals past the actual Brexit deadline.
However
at the time of Brexit (March 29th) and is
<p>BMW has made a massive investment in Plant Oxford, and it has no intention of throwing that away. BMW Group CEO Harald Krueger has subsequently clarified that MINI will retain production in the UK. “The UK is the largest market for MINI, so local production will stay,” he said.</p>
<p>Harold Krueger has also said that BMW will keep production at the UK’s Hams Hall engine plant, which builds 3- and 4-cylinder gasoline engines for the BMW namesake brand and MINI.</p>
<p>The current US Administration has promised the UK a “tremendously great trade deal” after it leaves the EU, and it is technically possible that all MINI models sold in the USA could be built at MINI Plant Oxford.</p>
<p>all MINI models, except the Countryman, and others like the Cabriolet, which were never made in the UK in the first place, and still aren’t.</p>
<p>Please see my reply to Roy Kenyon.</p>
<p>Both my MINI F56 JCW 3 door (2016) and my partners MINI F56
Cooper 3 door (2017) both came from the Nedcar MINI production site in Born,
Netherlands, and I live in the UK.</p>
<p>The F57 Cabriolet and F60 Countryman have always been built under contract exclusively by VDL NedCar. The F54 Clubman and F55/F56 Hatchback have always been built in Plant Oxford. However, VDL NedCar builds “overflow” F55/F56 models on an “as and when necessary” basis. In addition, since 2013 the Countryman has been assembled – with some local content – in BMW assembly plants throughout South and South East Asia. Plant Oxford currently builds around 60% of all MINIs sold.</p>
<p>The production lines at both Plant Oxford and VDL NedCar, were designed from the outset to build any MINI model – at random – on the same production line. So, in the unlikely event of a “no-deal” Brexit, both plants could potentially build a complete range of MINI models individually to supply markets with reciprocal trade agreements.</p>
<p>BMW Will Shift Some Production To The UK In Case Of A Hard Brexit</p>
<p>According to Autocar’s sources, BMW is rumored to be drawing up plans that could lead to the BMW 1-Series and 2-series being built in Plant Oxford for UK sale, in addition to the MINI Countryman and Convertible. This would off-set any shift in MINI production to VDL NedCar in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, and would enable Plant Oxford to remain viable for the foreseeable future.</p>