A future version of the Mini is to be built in Austria, bosses at parent company BMW have confirmed.
The four-wheel-drive Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) will be developed and produced by Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik in Graz.
The plant has been producing the X3 model which will now be shifted to Spartanburg, South Carolina in the United States.
BMW spokesman Martin Harrison said the move would mean the Cowley plant could concentrate on producing the main Mini models, allowing more flexibility as it builds up to its full production capacity of 260,000 cars a year.
He added: "The Oxford plant is so successful that there will not be space for the SAV but it will remain the centre of Mini production."
The SAV is not expected to be launched before 2010, after the new convertible due in 2009.
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