BMW has announced it will be investing more than £100m at its Mini Oxford plant up to the year 2007, due to the “success of the Mini brand”.

Dr Helmut Panke, BMW chairman says: “Most of these resources will go into the further optimisation of production capacities, in particular a new body construction building as well as the modernisation of the paintshop.

“Mini is a story of success only a few had really expected. At the beginning there were very many sceptics, who did not believe we would be able to successfully re-position the brand.

"The fact is, however, that today we are selling twice as many Minis as we originally assumed. And precisely that makes it essential to provide new capacities through our capital expenditure in Oxford. At the same time we are setting the foundation for the ongoing enhancement of flexibility in production for various models within the Mini family.”