Is MINI Preparing to Expand Electric Cooper Production Into Europe?

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MINI Cooper EV production could be moving out of China and into Europe as electric MINI sales accelerate across the continent. 

While EV adoption varies widely by market, Europe has quickly become MINI’s most important electric stronghold, raising new questions about where future electric Coopers should be built.

In 2025, BMW Group delivered more than 288,000 MINI vehicles globally, an increase of 17.7 percent year over year. More than 105,000 of those were fully electric, up an astonishing 87.9 percent compared to 2024. Globally, that means roughly one in three MINIs sold is now a battery electric vehicle.

That global figure, however, masks a sharp regional imbalance. In several European markets, including the Netherlands, Sweden, and Turkey, electric vehicles now account for more than 50 percent of MINI’s total sales. In Europe, MINI EVs have moved beyond early adoption and into the core of the brand’s product offering. In contrast, adoption in the U.S. and other markets remains far more cautious.

This divergence matters because of where electric MINIs are built today and what it costs MINI to sell them.

The all-electric MINI Cooper 3-Door and the MINI Aceman, which arrived in the last 18 months, are produced in Zhangjiagang, China. The electric MINI Countryman, by contrast, is built in Leipzig, Germany alongside combustion and hybrid variants. While this split offered flexibility when EV volumes were lower, it now comes with real financial consequences.

Due to tariffs, MINI’s profit margins on the electric Cooper and Aceman in Europe are lower than they otherwise could be. Those same tariff and sourcing challenges are also a key reason the electric Cooper and Aceman are not sold in the United States at all. In effect, China-based production is limiting MINI’s ability to fully capitalize on its strongest EV market while simultaneously blocking access to others.

This is not how MINI originally envisioned the transition. BMW had planned to begin producing electric MINI Coopers in the UK as early as this year, bringing EV production back to Oxford. Those plans were first halted and then officially paused, leaving China as the primary production hub for MINI’s small electric cars.

BMW has been careful in its public messaging since. A spokesperson for BMW and MINI has pointed to ongoing uncertainty around global EV adoption and emphasized the flexibility of BMW Group’s production network. At the same time, the company has repeatedly noted that model allocation and production capacity, including at Oxford, will be adjusted when market conditions justify it.

Europe’s EV momentum

Building electric MINI Coopers and Acemans closer to where they are sold would reduce tariff exposure, improve margins, shorten supply chains, and better align production with demand. It would also fit neatly into BMW’s broader European EV manufacturing strategy, which already includes Leipzig and other electrified facilities across the region.

If restarting UK production continues to face political, economic, or timing challenges, a shift to mainland Europe becomes an increasingly realistic alternative. Leipzig stands out as an obvious candidate given its role in producing the electric Countryman and BMW’s deep experience scaling EV production there. Other European plants could also be considered as BMW continues to rebalance its manufacturing footprint.

Such a move would carry symbolic weight. MINI’s identity remains closely tied to the UK, and Oxford still holds enormous brand significance. But MINI in 2025 is being shaped less by heritage and more by regulation, tariffs, and regional demand.

With the Aceman now on sale, the Cooper EV gaining traction in Europe, and profitability constrained by China-based production, MINI’s current setup looks increasingly temporary. Moving electric MINI Cooper production out of China and into Europe would not just improve margins. It would signal that Europe has become the true center of gravity for MINI’s electric future.

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