Mini Oxford Factory Celebrates a Century of Car Building

The Oxford factory that builds nearly every modern MiniMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
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on the roads today is celebrating a century of building cars on March 28. In that time, it has built 11,655,000 from 14 brands and over 2.25 million modern Minis. 

The Oxford factory opened in 1913 as a factory for MorrisMorrisUnited Kingdom, 1910 > 195217 models
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. In 1932, it began building the de Havilland Tiger Moth training planes, and during World War II, it repaired Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes.

The story of the factory is a microcosm of the history of the British motor industry. After Morris merged with AustinAustinUnited Kingdom, 1905 > 198737 models
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to become the British Motor CorporationBMCUnited Kingdom, 1951 > 1965 and later became British LeylandLeylandUnited Kingdom, 1896 > 19204 models
, the Oxford factory produced cars from nearly every British automaker of the last half century from famous examples like MGMGUnited Kingdom, 1924 > present37 models
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and TriumphTriumphUnited Kingdom, 1885 > 198430 models
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to more obscure examples like PrincessPrincessUnited Kingdom, 1975 > 19811 model
. In the 80s, it even built HondasHondaJapan, 1948 > present102 models
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briefly. Its stamping plant created the bodies for British luxury cars like Rolls-RoyceRolls-RoyceUnited Kingdom, 1904 > present31 models
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and BentleyBentleyUnited Kingdom, 1919 > present37 models
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. At its height in the 60s, the factory campus had 28,000 workers. 

BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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took over the factory when it bought RoverRoverUnited Kingdom, 1904 > 200523 models
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Group in 1994. The acquisition was not financially successful for BMW, and it sold Rover in 2000 but kept the rights to Mini, a few Rover brands and its factories.

Today, Oxford employs 3,700 people and builds 900 Minis a day. 

The history of the Oxford plant is not finished yet. BMW is investing £750 million into it to build the next generation Mini. It has over 1,000 new robots that build the car's bodies.