German motor giant BMW is to invest £500m in its UK car plants over the next three years to help fund production of the next generation MINI, it announced this morning.
The investment will safeguard more than 5,000 jobs, including at its Swindon body panel plant where it employs around 1,200 people.
The massive plant builds most panels and some sub-assemblies for the MINI which are then taken to the main assembly plant at Oxford.
BMW also has an engine plant at Hams Hall, near Birmingham.
More details of the BMW investment will be released later today. It is the second major boost to UK motor manufacturing industry in two days and comes a day after Nissan said it would invest £192m and safeguard 6,000 jobs by building its next generation Qashqai here at its plant near Sunderland.
The motor industry produces the country's most valuable manufactured exports, with £27bn worth of vehicles and parts going overseas in 2010.
The Government believes the industry will be one of the key players in driving the economic recovery.
David Cameron will host a meeting with the board of directors of the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA) later today in London to discuss the growing confidence in the UK automotive industry.
The Prime Minister said BMW's investment is vital to boost the economy.
"The production and export of iconic British cars like the MINI is making a real contribution to the rebalancing of the economy that this government is determined to achieve," he said.
"It's a tremendous vote of confidence in the skills and capabilities of the company's British workforce and in the future of UK manufacturing."
