Mini production delayed
BY GAUTAM SHARMA | 10th Apr 2000
BMW's reorganisation has prompted Tritec Motors, which will build engines for the Mini, to postpone production at its engine plant in Brazil.
Tritec, jointly owned by DaimlerChrysler and BMW, originally planned to start production of the Mini powerplants in July.
The retro-inspired Mini was scheduled to go on sale in Europe around April or May next year, but the launch date is now likely to be pushed back by about three months.
It could arrive in Australia by the third quarter of 2001.
Rover staff had been responsible for some procurement and engineering tasks at the plant but BMW is now believed to be re-assigning those duties.
Tritec's Campo Largo factory is to build two engines - a 1.6-litre unit designed for the Mini and Chrysler Neon and a 1.4-litre powerplant built exclusively for the Mini.
BMW has also halted development work on the station wagon version of the Rover 75, the flagship model of the British marque, according to a Reuters report.
The decision has been described as a precautionary measure pending the sale of Rover Cars to Alchemy Partners, which is expected to complete the takeover next month.
"Our talks with BMW are very intense and we have a team of 50 people working on this," one of Alchemy's senior partners, Mr Eric Walters, told Reuters.
Suppliers fear Alchemy will cut orders for the Rover 75, which will be built under licence by BMW at Cowley, near Oxford.
"They are canning the 75 station wagon and we're not even sure that they are going to restart existing production at all," a supplier source told Reuters.
Meanwhile, BMW AG has denied widespread speculation that its major shareholder, the billionaire Quandt family, plans to sell its 48 per cent stake in the German car-maker.
BMW spokesman Mr Richard Gaul, who contacted the Quandts late on Saturday after Britain's Sunday Times reported they were in talks on a sale, was quoted as saying there was "absolutely nothing in the story".
Citing car industry insiders, the Sunday Times reported the Quandts - who have repeatedly denied speculation they are poised to end BMW's nine decades of independence - were in talks with Ford and Volkswagen AG to sell their holding for "at least" 20 billion pounds ($51.8 billion).
The paper quoted an unnamed BMW executive as saying Ford was negotiating in turn with VW to divide up BMW's luxury brands - with Ford to take the BMW marque and VW to claim Rolls-Royce.
BMW last month offloaded its loss-making British Rover Cars subsidiary and agreed to sell Land Rover to Ford.
Its unsuccessful $7.4 billion effort to turn Rover around has sparked consistent speculation the Quandts were poised to turn their backs on the Munich-based group.