Hmm...Mexican vs Austrian built mini...which would have better quality... Any carmaker MUST protect themselves from variations in currency exchange....vw did this years ago....with mixed results and vw owner will tell you...the Wolfsenburg edition cars are still far better....
So many different cars are.....it is hard to keep track.... Kinda funny....my only "American" nameplated car was built in Canada... And a couple of my "import" cars were built in the US.... cars are assembled from global parts supply chains....and are often designed in countries other than the "home" maker.....with multinational corporations.... Think of them as "one" nationality is kinds dated IMO...... More stressing...is mexico known for quality workmanship? No...but low cost... To me it looks like sighn that mini/BMW is trying to go more "mainstream" ....and less niche......more soccor mom and less enthusiast....
This subject came up earlier and the big question was whether or not we would have to learn a whole new car part lexicon. Gone would be 'boot' and 'bonnet' and etc. in exchange for 'no hablo'.
My transition to calling the hood a bonnet and the trunk a boot is child's play compared to capo and maletro del coche if built in Mexico. Our R53's "made in Oxford England" heritage might become more of a valued commodity if BMW follows suit to boost profits.
The sad part is that these new MINIs will need a daily siesta, rendering them useless to anyone during the mid-day hours. I'm gonna pass...
At one time, the auto plant with the lowest level of production faults in the world was a Mazda plant in Mexico, so national stereotypes are no guide to anything. I bet Mazda guys were all over that plant, saying "round-eyes can't make things as well as us - this must be an error". I know when our local Nissan plant got higher quality data than a Japanese making the same car, they got audited to death to find out where they were cheating.
I had one of those a while back. It was reliable and cheap. The fit and finish left a bit to be desired. Not fun to drive at all. The worst handling car I've ever owned.