The revived Mini Moke recreational vehicle will now be produced entirely within the UK after a new agreement with manufacturing firm Fablink.
Moke International, which revived the brand in 2017 after acquiring the Moke trademark and global distribution rights, began selling a limited-edition model priced from £20,000 in the UK last year, which equates to AUD$38,000 before import duties and on roads.
Initially, the Mini-based beach buggies were engineered in the UK before final assembly took place in France, but the deal with Fablink means the cars will now be built entirely at Fablink’s UK facilities.
Fablink, which also conducts manufacturing and engineering work for car makers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Morgan, currently has six UK production sites and employs around 700 employees.
Moke International said the deal was enabled by a UK government grant from the Niche Vehicle Network. The firm also cited the recent UK-EU tariff-free trade deal as being crucial in making it viable for purely UK-produced models to be exported to the European Union.
The firm has developed a reworked version of the Moke that, while still based on the Austin Mini-based vehicle, is slightly larger, to provide more passenger space. The company has offered a number of special editions, including three armed-forces-inspired designs to reflect the car’s military origins.
James Attwood