THE FIRST MINI TO BE MADE IN GERMANY
GIVEN the lengths to which Mini has gone to proclaim its British heritage, with Union Flag brake lights and roof-tops, there will be raised eyebrows as it proudly extols the virtues of its first cars to be ‘Made in Germany’.
But Mini’s German owner BMW is unabashed at announcing that the production of the new Mini Countryman (shown here in ‘light disguise’) is set to begin at its ‘green plant’ in Leipzig. It added that the Mini was an ‘excellent fit’ for the ‘green’ German factory.
Mini is also launching a new allelectric Mini Convertible which will be manufactured at a specialist plant in the Netherlands in a limited run of 999 units.
And in another blow to Britain, Munich-based BMW announced in October that all future electric models will for now be built abroad. BMW currently makes 40,000 electric Minis a year in Oxford but production will end this year under plans to revise the line-up from 2024.
Most battery-powered Minis will then be built under a joint deal between BMW and Chinese car giant Great Wall.