MINI slashes production and 850 jobs in the UK

Even though MINI had an exceptional year in 2008, with a 28 percent increase in U.S. sales, in other parts of the world things didn’t turn out as well with sales dropping overall at the end of the last year. In response to this downturn BMW slashed production and laid off 850 temporary workers at its main assembly plant in Oxford, United Kingdom

MINI UK is going to cut back from a three shift, seven day a week production schedule to two shifts and five days a week. This move from MINI caused a lot of controversy in the United Kingdom because the laid off workers received only one hour of notice. Before these staff cuts MINI had over 4,500 employees in the UK.