BMW i3 120Ah. Image: BMW
BMW has announced that it intends to push on with production of an electric MINI model in the UK later this year despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the implications of Brexit.
Production chief Oliver Zipse said that the German automaking giant has no plans for radical changes to its four plants in the UK and that any disruptions caused to just-in-time supply chains are expected to normalise within four to six weeks, even in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The company anticipates tariffs on goods to be between 0% and 5% in the even of Britain leaving the EU without a deal, which "won't change MINI's business model."
"For us to consider fundamentally changing our production sites in the UK, there’d have to be significantly more severe developments," Zipse said.
BMW CEO Harald Krueger however has indicated that the company could still move its production to countries such as the Netherlands in the future in the event of unforeseen problems arising.
Production of the first electric MINI is scheduled to begin later this year and be made available globally, including in the US, where the brand may become electric only to boost sales, in the coming years.
BMW is hoping that it and MINI's move towards EVs will lead to 15-25% of its sales being electric vehicles by 2025. At present, it is building smaller numbers of electric cars because EV production isn't yet seen as profitable enough to justify production on the same scale as diesel or petrol cars.
Rolls Royce plants in the UK, also owned by BMW are not expected to be hit hard by Brexit either.
The announcement is a further boost to the UK car industry following the decision by Toyota to build hybrid-electric vehicles at its plant in Derby.
Both BMW and Toyota however stand in stark contrast with a general retreat from the UK by car manufacturers. In February, Nissan announced they were shelving the plans to build their X-Trail at the company's Washington plant in Tyne & Wear, and Honda announced they'd be ceasing UK manufacturing operations completely by 2021.
The announcement by BMW does not involve any extra jobs or new investment but it will increase production volumes and safeguard existing posts.
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