LONDON (AP) — BMW announced on Monday that it will invest 600 million pounds in its UK plants to make its Mini brand all-electric by 2030, providing a boost to the British auto industry after years of Brexit-related uncertainty.
The German luxury carmaker will produce two electric models at its Mini plant in Oxford beginning in 2026: the Mini Cooper 3-door and the tiny crossover Mini Aceman.
According to BMW production chief Milan Nedeljkovic, the plant will only produce electric vehicles by 2030, with many of them exported to markets around the world.
Badenoch declined to comment on the amount of subsidies that BMW will receive for Mini manufacture, which has been reported in British media to be 75 million pounds.
BMW will also invest in its Swindon facility, which manufactures parts for Mini cars. It was too early to predict what would happen to the engine factory in Hams Hall, near Birmingham. According to Nedeljkovic.
Still, the sector is on edge, with both British and European carmakers lobbying for a delay in the adoption of post-Brexit “rules of origin,” which require 45% of the value of an EV sold in the European Union to come from the UK or the EU starting in 2024 in order to avoid taxes.
