The Sun reports that most German of British brands– I mean British of German brands– is set to build cars outside The Land of Hope and Glory. The paper reckons BMW will manufactur its MINI SUV in Graz, now that the plant's X3 production is headed stateside. A spokesperson for the propeller people said the MINI brand's geographical locus will remain in Oxford, as both the fast-selling standard car and the sure-to-be-a-hit Clubman greet the world from Southeast England. In fact, the factory is maxxed-out at 260k units per annum. Hence the move to the Fatherland. In a related story, Motortrader reports that most Kuwaiti of English car brands, Aston Martin, is also looking to craft vehicles abroad, beginning with the four-door Rapide. Bidders for the work read like a who's who of outsourcing: Italy's Pininfarina, Germany's Karmann, Austria/Canada's Magna and Finland's Valmet.
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Just as I predicted! Mini is now a total joke.
Bad enough, the Germans are clinging onto the Britishness of the Mini, now they want to dilute it down even further by making them in Austria, thereby adding no Britishness to it, at all!
God the UK is slowly becoming a joke in car terms. Mind you, we still have Aston Martin……until them CEO sells them to a foreign car maker in order to add “value to the company”!
P.S. For the record, “The Sun” is not so much a newspaper, more a comic. So there may be no truth in this article at all. Personally, I think BMW would be committing brand suicide by making Minis outside of the UK. I mean, part of Mercedes-Benz’s identity is the German-ness of it. It wouldn’t have the same ring if your S-Class was built in Italy, would it? Or Porsches built in Japan?
Katie, how is Mini a joke? They brought back a great brand and make a much sought after product that is selling well. Unfortunately “being British” is not a selling point – having a desirable product is.
Having said that, the Mini SUV is an abomination -but not because its not made in Britain but because it exists at all.
Brand suicide? I doubt that even a quarter of Mini drivers even know the brand is BMW owned now, let alone where they are made. Even if they did, I doubt they would care. Carguy is right…
I mean, really. The SAS are pretty kick ass, the beer is good, and I rank a British accent number two on the list of sexiest chick accents but…
Not much to brag about being British.
@KatiePuckrik :
OK now the pattern is getting clearer: It’s obviously not only Volkswagen, it’s all german automakers that you obviously have a problem with. Let’s face it: Porsches are made in Finland (Boxster and Cayman) and Slovakia (Cayenne), Mercedes and BMW are producing in the US, BMW also in South Africa etc. Magna (which is in Austria, not in the fatherland)has produced cars for, amongst others, Mercedes, BMW and Chrysler. Not really brand suicide.
But at least your reference system is consistent: In a world where one of the most successful CEOs (Wiedeking) is just a “puppet”, surely a blockbuster hit like the Mini must be a “total joke”. Black is white. Up is down. I get it.
The reason the Mini is a joke is nearly every advert, publicity shot and poster I see of a Mini is nearly always the same. British racing green and a Union flag on the top.
If the “Britishness” of the car didn’t matter, then why do they push it in their publicity? Just sell it as a car?
Don’t get me wrong, I like the Mini (Especially the Mini Cooper S Cabriolet), but it’s the way BMW push the Britishness of it, then make it abroad.
If anything, my original post is how the UK car industry is going down the drain. I don’t want it go down, because my job is heavily reliant on it!
@Vega, with all due respect, I am heavily critical of German manufacturers because I know they can do better. It annoys me when I see them running at a sub par level. On a good day, the Germans can match (if not beat) the Japanese. So let’s see it happen!
I see them in all kinds of colors in the US and not very often in green. And they have all kinds of options for the top not just the union jack which I also see rarely here. Plus the owners of the cars option them out with the custom paints not BMW. Sure they make a few showroom models like that but for the most part all those you see rolling around like that are custom ordered by the customer.
Katie, they must only push the Britishness in Britain, because that is not how they are advertised in North America. Honestly, I didn’t even know they were made in the UK, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting one (if Canadian prices were in line with US prices I’d probably get one.) Now that I think about it, I’ve never even thought about where they were made before.
So it may be brand suicide in the UK, but I doubt anyone else cares.
I guess ad agencies are pushing the britishness of the MINI more in the UK than in other countries. The same way that Mellencamp sang for the Silverado, if you wish: a little infusion of feel-good nationalism can help sell cars.
KatiePuckrik writes:
“[N]early every advert, publicity shot and poster I see of a Mini is nearly always the same. British racing green and a Union flag on the top.”
I would hasten to add “in England.”
That is, like Chevy’s whole “American Revolution” business on US television, Mini’s marketing, in Britain, plays up the British roots of the car, and glosses over the fact that it is, in fact, a BMW. Outside the UK, the Mini’s Britishness is not hyped up nearly so much, and my guess is that most Mini buyers, counted on a global basis (i.e. in the US), don’t particularly care.
When was the last time you saw a Vauxhall advert (in the UK) playing up the American/German/Belgian/Whatever origins of that car? At home, GM plays the patriotic card, while abroad it does not. Similarly, at home, Mini plays up the patriotic card, while abroad it is content merely to be a desired and damn good little niche product.
the best thing they could do would be to get all of the britishness out of it. i’d prefer that it runs every day.
Katie,
Do you think that Mini buyers really care where the car is assembled? BMW has built a successful brand with Mini. When I tell people that BMW is the company behind the Mini, this is generally well received.
German car companies are simply using their brand equity to leverage more sales. I guess I’m just confused, do you also have a problem with Coach bags assembled in China?
Katie, let them Austrians do it.
At least, they have a long, well-kept tradition (google for Austro-Daimler, Porsche’s first job, or Steyr Daimler Puch) for building all kind of cars.
But perhaps it’s a long-term strategy by BMW? Replacing the Union Jack with a Tyrolean hat in marketing? Given the interior of the Mini, what could possibly go wrong?
‘Sprechen Sie“