MINI Countryman cars being assembled at Magna Steyrs Austrian facility.
The Kleine Zeitung newspaper reported on Thursday that the
BMW Group will end contract production of Mini cars by Magna Steyr in 2016. The Austrian supplier currently builds the Mini Countryman and Mini Paceman. BMW will move production of the two models to BMWs own Mini factory in Oxford, England, and to Mitsubishis former NedCar facility in the Netherlands, where the Dutch group VDL will start Mini production under contract later this year. Magna Steyrs corporate parent, Magna International, said in a statement that its relationship with BMW will continue through a new vehicle manufacturing contract. The new production program would start following the end of production of the current Mini models Mini Countryman and Mini Paceman being assembled by Magna Steyr in Graz. No details were given on specific models that Magna Steyr will be assembling under the new contract.
According to the Kleine Zeitung, Magna Steyrs role will not be to build particular BMW Group cars but rather it will hold capacity for a variety of models as demand dictates. Those would likely be high-volume models like the BMW 5 series and 3 Series cars. The newspaper says that the contract will probably cover a volume of over 100,000 vehicles over 6 to 7 years.
Neither Magna Steyr or BMW has commented on the report.
Magna Steyr currently also assembles vehicles for Mercedes-Benz and
Peugeot.
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