MINI production stops for a month

[BigShow]

MINI production is to be cut back and the factory closed for a month over Christmas, as the car industry reports falling sales in the UK.

Workers at the BMW-owned factories in Oxford and Swindon have been told the two-week Christmas shutdown is to be extended to four weeks this year.

It is thought that key workers such as maintenance and engineering staff will remain on site during the closure.

Union Unite said the extended shutdown would not affect workers' pay.

The holiday was going to be from 18 December to 5 January, but will now start on 7 December.

It will affect about 4,700 workers across three shifts on the Oxford site.

'Difficult conditions'

Earlier this week Jaguar Land Rover announced that a voluntary redundancy scheme was to be extended to hundreds of workers.

On Friday, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed new car sales in the UK were down 23% from a year ago.

Mini sales in the UK during October were down 40% compared with a year ago. But a spokeswoman for the company said there had been a 12% increase on sales worldwide since last year.

Roger Maddison, national officer at Unite, said: "We understand the very difficult economic conditions car manufacturers are facing.

"We have robust agreements in place to protect our members as much as possible during these difficult times.

"However, we remain vigilant and we are keeping a close eye on developments in the car industry."

A spokesperson for Mini said: "Despite challenging economic conditions, Mini's worldwide sales remain 12.1% up on last year and production remains at about the same level as last year.

"One of our strengths is our flexibility and this means that we are able to deal with fluctuations in the production programme".

Courtesy of BBC.co.uk

[Ant FR]

hope no ones got build week date 52 for their new JCW.....lol

[MINIMANIAUK]

"Despite challenging economic conditions, Mini's worldwide sales remain 12.1% up on last year and production remains at about the same level as last year.


UK mini sales down 19% , and all car manufacturers are adopting the month "break" for xmas

what exactly does "at about the same level as last year mean" ? are they producing more than sales or less than sales? is there a surplus or shortfall?
if short fall then why the month break?
If they had a flexible production process then why the extra 2 weeks holiday? couldnt they produce a few thousand electric versions in this period?

[James@fomsport]

two weeks to re tool for new cabrio ?

[streeters]

Of the car companies with UK production facilities, many of them are shutting down for longer or trimming production at the present. The reason many shut down for longer rather than just work slower is down to factory operating costs. i.e. it costs the same to open the factory and work full tilt as it does to work at 50% capacity. So they're better to shut down for longer saving on power/overtime ancillary staff etc rather than stay open producing half the volume.

Bentley are shutting for a month too and laying off 600 staff
Nissan halting production of Micra & Note for december (still making qashqai & plus2)
Toyota Cutting from 3 shifts per day to 2 (saving unsociable hours pay)
Honda Cutting production by a further 10,000 units for 2009 (ontop of 22,00 cut in august)
Jaguar/land rover have also announced cuts in production


James - Good point - but they've been knocking out dummy cars and test builds for a while

[Loui]

We have seen this coming for a while from the builds going through, tbf isnt going to effect me much but will help some dealers who havent been doing the job an are swiming in stock cars