Last Monday, the BMW Group plant in Swindon, Wiltshire celebrated the beginning of their Mini Clubman production. The German automaker invested £200 million sometime between 2005 and 2007 to link their pressing plants in Swindon, engine plants in Hams Hall near Birmingham and its assembly plant in Oxford.
The union of these BMW plants targets the production of 200,000 vehicles this year and 240,000 vehicles in the medium term. 220,000 MINI’s are also aimed to be delivered to customers all over the world.
The event was attended by the Mayor of Swindon and other prominent personalities from Swindon’s business community.
Klaus Hauser, Managing director of BMW Group Plant Swindon and the host of the event said, “With the launch of the MINI Clubman, the third MINI derivative, we are expecting new production and sales records for MINI this year which is great news for Swindon and the UK automotive industry. The new model is another milestone for the plant and we are confident that it will offer an exciting next chapter in the MINI success story. We look forward to our employees continuing to make a vital contribution to the development of a great British brand – the MINI.”
The celebration was also joined by 10 plant employees who are to receive their long service awards on the said event. Hauser considered the 325 years of the plant an achievement and having such hardworking employees, the plant sees a more productive future.
“This is a tremendous achievement and we are delighted they were able to join us. They have seen many changes over the years. The plant, in which they have spent so much of their lives, now looks forward to a robust and positive future.”
To break the 200,000 MINI’s produced in 2005 BMW invested £100 million to the Oxford plant, £60 million for MINI body pressings and sub-assembly technologies to the Swindon plant, £30 million for new and advanced petrol engines at the Hams Hall.
With the added investment at the Swindon Plant resulting to increased capacity and flexibility will make the plant accountable for 90 percent of the pressings and 80 percent of the body-shell sub-assembly work for the MINI. The plant now uses extensive modernization program and the most advanced technology in seam production.
The MINI Clubman production started after a year the MINI hatch was introduced to the market. The Clubman’s closest competitors are the Honda Fit (which can be equipped with a Honda car cover), VW rabbit and the Nissan Versa. BMW’s MINI series was launched in 2001 and now, almost one million MINI’s have been manufactured and sold. 75 percent of the production accounts for MINI’s exported to automotive markets all over the world.
Evander Klum is a Business Administration graduate who hails from Alabama. He enjoys extreme sports and he is also a car racing fanatic. At present, he works as a marketing manager at an advertising agency in Cleveland.
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