It is also the first time that the BMW Group has produced MINI and BMW cars in the same plant. The Mini Countryman now comes off the same assembly line as the BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.
Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production, calls this “multi-brand operations” on a flexible production system as part of a long-term strategy for the BMW iFactory.
The Group has invested around half a billion euros in Leipzig to increase production volumes for the new models. The third-generation MINI Countryman presented at this year's IAA will be available with a gasoline, diesel or fully electric powertrain. The high-voltage batteries for the MINI Countryman Electric are also produced in Leipzig.
The BMW Group has invested around €200 million to adapt the production system to MINI-specific requirements. Initially, around 100 MINI Countryman cars will roll off the production lines each day, rising to 500 over the course of next year - in addition to the nearly 1,000 BMW cars that already leave the plant every day. The company does not estimate how many will be electric.
“Leipzig remains electric,” says Petra Peterhänsel, Plant Director. “With the BMW i3 and i8, we were at the vanguard of e-mobility at the BMW Group, and from 2024, we will be producing our next fully electric car: the Mini Countryman Electric. We will manufacture the high-voltage batteries for it in-house as well.”
MINI manufacturing in the UK
The traditional home of the MINI is also undergoing modernization after BMW denied rumors that it might cut UK production altogether. Instead, in September, the group confirmed plans to invest £600 million in the production of MINI-branded vehicles in the UK and the conversion of the site to an all-electric facility. The Oxford plant is preparing to build two new all-electric MINI models from 2026 and all-electric models from 2030.
These are the MINI Cooper 3-door and the compact MINI Aceman crossover, which were recently unveiled at the IAA Mobility Show, not the MINI Countryman.
Source: BMW Group
