BMW confirms plans to build Minis in the Netherlands

Monday 09 July 2012

German car maker BMW confirmed on Monday that it is to start producing the famous Mini car in the Netherlands. The car is currently produced at Oxford in Britain.

Harald Krueger, member of the board of management at the BMW Group, told the Daily Mail the extra volume for its growth plans for the Mini and the complexity of new models means that additional production beyond Oxford's maximum capacity was needed in the medium term

‘Our preferred option is to establish a contract manufacturer as a satellite production as close to our UK operations as possible, at the Nedcar plant in the Netherlands, with whom BMW is in discussions,’ he said.

2014

On Friday, the NRC reported BMW will begin producing Minis in Limburg from the end of 2014. Mitsubishi is due to pull out of the plant at the end of this year. This means all 1,500 workers at the plant will lose their jobs, but will also get a job guarantee if the BMW deal goes through, the paper said.

In addition, agreement has been reached with the social affairs ministry to pay all the staff unemployment benefit up to 100% of their current salary pending the restart, the sources say.

Rebuilding the production line will cost €200m. Once operational, BMW will produce between 60,000 and 90,000 Mini cars at the plant up to 2020, the paper said. BMW has not commented on this.

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