A mighty decision on the mini
Ok so call me a sucker for advertising but surely I’m not the only person whose self-image is somewhat malleable… Imagine myself in a Citreon and I become a little bit French; perhaps with a bag of fresh baguettes besides me. Put me in a Fiat and my Italiano side starts to emerge and I’m jazzily parking outside a cute little coffee bar. And when it comes to the mainly British made Mini, I’m right at home (well I guess I’ve driven out of Port Talbot and am a little near to London but you get the picture…).
So my excitement about the new electric mini planned for launch in 2019 was tempered slightly by the recent news that it might not be produced in the UK. This car should be amazing; it’s said to be based on current existing models so it’ll still look cute as a button but its mechanics will be anything but – by the time it’s on the market it'll have the breakthrough in battery technology that’s currently being worked upon. But if it’s not made in the UK, will it feel a little bit different?
I guess you’ve got to look at the bigger picture really. It’s not like minis are currently created in a little British bubble – apparently at present the crankshaft in the cars have crossed the Channel three times in a 2,000-mile journey before the car leaves the production line! But on the other hand, it really does mean something that the vast majority of them are made in the UK – around 4,000 people at Mini’s Oxford plant work to produce 1,000 cars a day.
The question mark around where they’re to be made is down to the question mark around Brexit in general of course… I guess it’s BMW balancing what makes sense to the company long term. Although most minis are made on these shores they’re also produced in Austria and the Netherlands and the talk is that the electric mini could be made in Germany.
So far BMW’s Ian Robertson isn’t giving to much away, saying, “the UK is in a strong position but it's not the only production facility we have”. Mmm. Quite a weighty decision really because if my predictions are right, give it a decade or so and electric cars will be the norm. Think carefully mini makers!
So my excitement about the new electric mini planned for launch in 2019 was tempered slightly by the recent news that it might not be produced in the UK. This car should be amazing; it’s said to be based on current existing models so it’ll still look cute as a button but its mechanics will be anything but – by the time it’s on the market it'll have the breakthrough in battery technology that’s currently being worked upon. But if it’s not made in the UK, will it feel a little bit different?
I guess you’ve got to look at the bigger picture really. It’s not like minis are currently created in a little British bubble – apparently at present the crankshaft in the cars have crossed the Channel three times in a 2,000-mile journey before the car leaves the production line! But on the other hand, it really does mean something that the vast majority of them are made in the UK – around 4,000 people at Mini’s Oxford plant work to produce 1,000 cars a day.
The question mark around where they’re to be made is down to the question mark around Brexit in general of course… I guess it’s BMW balancing what makes sense to the company long term. Although most minis are made on these shores they’re also produced in Austria and the Netherlands and the talk is that the electric mini could be made in Germany.
So far BMW’s Ian Robertson isn’t giving to much away, saying, “the UK is in a strong position but it's not the only production facility we have”. Mmm. Quite a weighty decision really because if my predictions are right, give it a decade or so and electric cars will be the norm. Think carefully mini makers!
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