MINI celebrates 15 years of dr

UNIQUE SUCCESS STORY: STEEPED-IN-TRADITION OXFORD PLANT BUILDS ON DECADES OF MINI EX

2.5 million of the relaunched MINI cars have been built and sold in 110 countries.

On 26 April 2001, the first MINI came off the production line at the steeped- in- tradition manufacturing site in Oxford. Since the re-launch of the British brand, more than 2.5 million vehicles have been manufactured at this location.

The first MINI to be produced after the re-launch of the brand was a MINI Cooper in Chili Red with contrasting white paintwork for the roof and the exterior mirror caps.

Both for the location and the brand, a unique success story began when this car rolled off the line.

Today the Oxford MINI plant ranks among the most state-ofthe-art automobile manufacturing sites in the world. Employee figures rose from 2 400 in the beginning to currently more than 4 500. The workforce assembles approximately 1 000 vehicles per day in three shifts.

One of the special features of the production site is the exceptional degree of flexibility. Currently four models are manufactured in Oxford. Every car is built precisely to the customer’s wishes based on the MINI typical wide selection of optional equipment, paintwork, interior colours and trim variants. The extremely sporty latest-generation John Cooper Works models are also “made in Oxford”.

“Building 1 000 individually configured premium automobiles every day is a big challenge which our employees master thanks to their exceptional level of passion and skill,” says plant manager Frank Bachmann.

Automotive production history in Oxford goes back more than 100 years. In 1931 already, the Morris Oxford went into production. It was also called the “Bullnose” due to the shape of its radiator grille. The first “million seller” to come out of this Oxford plant was the Morris Minor in 1948 which was manufactured until 1971.

The classic Mini was produced in Oxford as the Morris Mini-Minor from its birth year in 1959 to 1968. The decision to manufacture the modern MINI here right from the start was taken in the spring of 2000.

Following a comprehensive and record-speed modernisation process lasting only 13 months, everything was set for another revolution in the small car segment. The MINI put in a stunning start as the British original for the 21st century.

The originally planned production figures were quickly exceeded and a second body variant was taken up into the model range. The first MINI Convertibles left the Oxford plant right on time for the spring of 2004.

With the generation change in the autumn of 2006, the manufacturing sites had now been fully integrated into the MINI production triangle with Oxford ( body construction, paintshop and assembly), Swindon (press plant) and