The VDL Nedcar factory in the Netherlands, which builds the Mini Countryman and Convertible, has announced it is cutting down to one shift and making redundancies as the current-generation models are phased out.

Around 1800 employees across the production and administrative departments will be made redundant as a result of the switch to a sole day shift from 1 November 2023.

Production of the Countryman will move to a BMW site in Leipzig, Germany, for the next-generation model and the new Convertible will be built at Mini’s home plant in Oxford.

VDL said in a statement that it could not rule out further job cuts from 1 March 2024, when its contract with BMW ends.