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UK content of the new-generation Mini will grow to 60% from 40%, as BMW’s engine plant at Hams Hall in the Midlands takes on supply of the petrol engines.

Hams Hall engines replace the Brazilian-built engines that have powered petrol versions of the Mini since 2001. But Hams Hall will not build diesel engines for the car, says the engine plant’s managing director Harald Krueger.

“The current diesel engine comes from Toyota and we are likely to announce in the first or second quarter next year where the new diesel will come from,” he said.

Krueger was speaking as production of the first new-generation Minis was officially launched at the Cowley assembly plant by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown.

The new model represents an investment of more than £200 million, with £30 million at Hams Hall, £60 million at the Swindon pressings plant and the rest at Cowley. BMW plans to increase production from 200,000 to 240,000 cars a year. UK employment on the car will rise from 6,350 to 6,800.

New BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said the company had “a strong sense of commitment and pride in the UK”.

He said business needed economic stability to make medium and long-term decisions and that the UK economy had provided that.

BMW says three major suppliers have now located in the UK to supply large-scale modules to the new Mini. They include the new HBPO (Hella Behr Plastic Omnium) joint venture at Banbury, which is making complete front-end modules, plus other companies supplying seats and cockpits.

Building the new Mini: UK content on the up