In response to increasing worldwide demand for premium cars from the British MINI brand, the BMW Group is extending its international production network by additional local production plants for select MINI models.
This adds another chapter to the global success story of MINI. For the first time since the relaunch of the brand in 2001, preparations are under way for the local production of MINI cars for several growth markets outside Europe. As a result, cars from the British premium brand will be rolling off assembly lines beyond Europe for the first time later this year.
Local production for the MINI Countryman is currently being prepared at the BMW plant in Chennai (formerly Madras), which meets the same stringent quality standards applied to all production of BMW Group models.
The new MINI assembly facility has been brought on stream just a year after the start of MINI sales in India and will help to meet the steadily increasing demand for MINI cars in the Indian market.
The first models to be locally produced in Chennai will be the MINI Cooper D Countryman and the MINI One Countryman.
BMW’s Chennai production plant was built in March 2007 and has since taken on production of the BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series as well as the BMW X1 and BMW X3 models. The facility, which has a production area covering around 13,000 square metres (approx. 140,000 sq. ft.), is located in the Mahindra World City business zone in the southwest of India, roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Chennai.
