Today marks a special day for the Mini plant in Oxford as it celebrates 15 years of production. I'll be honest, I'd much rather have a classic Mini but I still appreciate the new Minis, especially the John Cooper Works. Hmmm...JCW... I digress.
The BMW Group took ownership of the plant in 1994 and started pumping out the new models of the Mini when it was relaunched 2001. The plant originally opened its doors in 1913 when William Morris (A.K.A. Lord Nuffield) produced the "Bullnose" Morris. The original Mini was also produced at the plant from 1959 until 1968, hitting production peak of 94,889 cars between '66 and '67.
In the modern day 1000 different Mini variants are produced each day and the plant has made over 2.5 million cars since 2001. This means that the firm are on target to hit 3 million later this year. 80% of the cars made there are actually exported, to no less than 110 countries worldwide. Who says Britain doesn't make anymore? To handle this high demand the plant has more than 4,500 employees and also has a MINIcademy where it trains the plant's apprentices.
Chris Wherritt who works as a joining technician who started as an apprentice in 2001 said: Chris said: “Starting my apprenticeship straight from school was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. After all, 2001 was a big year for the plant — I knew it would be a big change but I wasn’t aware at the time just how successful the new MINI was going to be. I already had a position secured for after my apprenticeship when the 2001 MINI rolled off the production line, and the launch was all over the news — that’s when I knew both the MINI and I had a bright future ahead of us.”
Tanya Evans who married to Jason Evans, who works in IT at Mini, is looking to set up a group to bring the Y reg Minis (the registration letter for 2001) back together at their place of birth. Mrs Evans said: “Today is a wonderful milestone for MINI Plant Oxford. The first MINIs are 15 years old and are now becoming modern classics and are increasingly collectable. The creation of the Y REGister shows the growing interest in these MINIs and the heritage of the modern MINI. As someone who’s passionate about the plant’s heritage, this is something that’s really important to me.”