First R50 Body Built in 1999
Early R50 Built at Longbridge (Methods Build 1999)
New Rover MINI comes to Longbridge.
That was the Plan, although in the end it never happened........
The general BMW plan for the Rover Group was that Cowley, renamed Oxford would produce the large cars, with Longbridge, becoming Birmingham which would produce the small and medium.
Rover Birmingham (Longbridge) needed to undergo major restructuring to prepare for the launch of R50 (new Mini) in the year 2000. In order to create a world class manufacturing facility for the production of the new Mini, Rover needed to replace existing old buildings with new factories, designed to accommodate modern machinery and equipment.
More details of the original plans here:
Longbridge New Mini R50