The continuing success of the BMW Mini is providing a welcome boost for car component firms across the West Midlands.

There were fears for employment in the area when the German car giant sold Rover in 2000 and decided to make the Mini in Oxford instead of at Longbridge in Birmingham, as had originally been planned.

But production levels of the Mini are now approaching 180,000 each year, helping to create work for thousands of people in the West Midlands.

As a consequence, some firms in the area are gearing up for production levels almost double the level they had anticipated.

'Significant growth'

One company feeling the benefits of the small car's big success is Intier Automotive Interiors, based in Redditch.

The firm, which makes cockpits, employs 460 people and works round-the-clock.

Spokesman Norman Taylor said the Mini is central to the company's expansion: "We secured the Mini contract round about 1998 and it's allowed us to grow the business very significantly."

More Minis will be made in Oxford in 2003 than the entire output of the Longbridge plant, where nine different models of car are made.