The Mini success story – in which Swindon has played a key role – continued this week as BMW announced the production of its three millionth car and its two millionth for export.
The iconic car was relaunched in 2001 by BMW and has since become one of the most popular brands in the automotive world. 
The three millionth Mini, which rolled off the production line at BMW’s Mini assembly plant in oxford, was a 5-door Hatch Cooper S with a special exterior design to celebrate its heritage and its British roots.
Swindon’s BMW plant, which employs around 800 people, makes body panels for the entire Mini range, including around 90% of all the car’s panels and almost 80% of its sub-assemblies such as doors, bonnets and tailgates.
These are transported to BMW’s Oxford plant where the cars are assembled with engines made at a sister factory at Hams Hall, near Birmingham.
The Swindon plant is benefiting from a £750m investment now underway across all three factories, with the installation of new body manufacturing technologies including laser welding.
Speaking at an event to celebrate the production milestone, BMW board of management member for Production Harald Krüger said: “The Mini brand has had strong ties to the UK for decades. Our Mini production in Oxford represents a commitment to the brand’s identity, firmly in line with our successful strategy of ‘production follows the market’. Oxford is the centre of our British Mini production network, with the Swindon pressings plant and the Hams Hall engine plant near Birmingham.”
The two millionth export Mini was a Volcanic Orange Hatch which is currently making its way across the ocean to its new customer in Japan.
Frank Bachmann, managing director of Mini Plants Oxford and Swindon, added: “Everyone here is proud to be celebrating these two great milestones. The complexity of producing Minis for individual customers in more than 110 markets around the globe is a real testimony to the expertise of our workforce.”
