Mini announces £600m Oxford factory investment for EV production
Mini’s Oxford factory will become an EV production facility in 2030 as the firm pivots towards an all-electric future
To facilitate its target to become electric-only by 2030, Mini has secured a £600m investment to revamp its Oxford factory to produce a series of new-age EVs. The firm has already laid out its new design and technology direction with the new Cooper hatch, and as other electric models are rolled out in the coming years, its UK production site will be adapted to suit.
The Oxford facility has been building Minis since 2001, when the brand was reinvented under BMW ownership and the first R50-generation hatch rolled off the production line. The plant as a whole celebrates its 110th year of automotive manufacturing in 2023, and currently produces three- and five-door Mini hatchbacks and the Clubman estate.
The site is being adapted for the next-generation petrol-powered Cooper in 2024, with the EV variant set to be produced in China alongside a new electric crossover called the Aceman. The investment will see both these electric models being built in Oxford from 2026, by which time production capacity will reach 200,000 per year. This won’t include the new Countryman SUV, however, which will be assembled at BMW’s Leipzig plant on the same platform as the X1.
Mini will become a fully-electric manufacturer by 2030, by which point we can expect a raft of battery-powered performance cars to join the lineup. A 215bhp Cooper SE hot hatch is already scheduled to arrive next year to square up against the Abarth 500e, with more extreme JCW models predicted to launch later.
Speaking on the announcement, Mini boss Stefanie Wurst said: ‘MINI has always been aware of its history – Oxford is and remains the heart of the brand. I am delighted that the two new, fully electric MINI models – the MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman – are also being produced in Oxford, thereby confirming our path to a fully electric future. The continuing high demand for our locally emission-free vehicles shows the openness of the global MINI community to electromobility, which we will be able to serve optimally, also thanks to Oxford’.
