Mini Production Force cut

German car manufacturer BMW is cutting around 850 jobs at its Mini plant in Oxford, England, as it scales back production in the wake of falling demand. The company, which produced 235,000 cars at the plant last year, said in a statement it would now be operating five days a week instead of seven. The plant in Oxford plant is the only plant worldwide that produces the Mini. “While Mini has been weathering the economic downturn, it is not immune from the challenges of the current situation,” the company said in a statement on Monday. Sales of the Mini fell 34.5% in January of 2009 to just over 10,000 worldwide.

The Mini was first made famous in 1969 when British actor Michael Caine drove one in the action adventure movie The Italian Job. The cut in production is the latest in a round of announcements made by auto manufacturers worldwide in response to the global economic downturn and the credit crunch, both of which continue to seriously depress auto sales.