BMW Group's decision to build the new Mini Cooper on two different platforms simultaneously has presented it with a challenge: how to combine the two in the same plant while ensuring the car is profitable.
The new electric version of the Cooper three-door small car due next year will be built on a new platform developed by the Spotlight Automotive joint venture between BMW and China's Great Wall.
Meanwhile, next year Mini will also replace the gasoline engine version with a new model that uses the same design as the EV, but it will sit on the UKL platform that currently underpins the fourth-generation car, which will be discontinued.
Mini wanted to build the two cars in Oxford, England, where the automaker has produced vehicles as BMW subsidiary since 2001. Combining production would align with BMW's strategy of building EVs alongside internal combustion engine (ICE) models wherever possible.