15 years of MINI premium driving fun

It is a very special day at the MINI Oxford plant as the employees celebrate the 15th year of operations after the brand’s relaunch. It was April 26, 2001 that the first ever post-relaunch MINI vehicle rolled off the production line here — a MINI Cooper in Chili Red and contrasting white roof and exterior mirror caps. That day was the beginning of something great and fun. Since then, more than 2.5 million MINI vehicles have been manufactured in the Oxford production line and distributed to more than 110 countries in the world. The continued success of BMW today is a testament to the brand’s success.

Nowadays, MNI’s Oxford plant prides itself as one of the most technologically advanced car manufacturing sites in the world. They have doubled the workforce from 2,400 when they started to more than 4,500 as of current. The employees are working in three shifts and are able to manufacture at least 1,000 MINI cars per day.

In fact, the site is so flexible that it can manufacture four different types of vehicles and is dedicated to producing driving fun. Every car is made according to the customization requests of the consumer based on MINI’s selection of equipment options — from the interior colors, trims, and exterior paint. This requires and extreme amount of precision and skill for all employees.

Even before the Oxford MINI plant started, the history of automobile manufacturing was already vibrant in the place. It was 1931 when the Morris Oxford aka the “Bullnose” was produced here and it became a million seller in 1948. The classic MINI was produced here from 1959 to 1968 but it was only in year 2000 that this became a MINI plant from the ground up.

It was in 2007 that Oxford started to produce the MINI Clubman. The refreshed MINI Convertible was also produced here during the 50th anniversary of the brand. In 2011, the MINI Coupé production started here and then followed by the MINI Roadster.