BMW Looks to Bring Mini Production to China for the First Time
- Discussions at preliminary stage, Great Wall Motor says
- Companies haven’t signed agreement to set up joint venture
A painted Mini Cooper automobile body frame, produced by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), passes along the production line in Oxford.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergBMW AG is in early talks with China’s biggest maker of sport utility vehicles about the possible production of Mini cars in the country, potentially marking the brand’s first manufacturing project outside of Europe.
Great Wall Motor Co. and BMW agreed in February to discuss cooperating on Mini, though the discussions are still preliminary and the companies haven’t entered a joint venture, the Chinese automaker said Friday in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement. Propelling Mini’s growth in the country, where the U.K. nameplate has sold 25,000 vehicles this year, “is only possible with a local partner,” BMW said in an email without specifying Great Wall by name.