BMW has bought nearly 200 robots in the past three months to work at its Cowley factory where the Mini is assembled.

The robots are made by German multinational Kuka which has a British subsidiary in Halesowen, West Midlands.

A spokesman for Kuka said: "We have installed several robots on the line recently for the new convertible car.

"They are used mainly for precision spot welding in the body shop, handling, and in the trim and final department."

BMW spokesman Alexandra Brooks said the Series 2000 robots were bought during the past three months as part of the company's campaign to increase production.

She declined to comment on the cost of the robots, but said: "They show the company's committment to continued investment in the plant.

"They certainly do not take any work away from people who are of course needed to oversee them -- from a safe distance."

A spokesman for the Transport & General Workers' Union, Bernard Moss, said: "On the one hand, we view any increased automation as a potential threat to jobs, even though the company argues that the threat is evened out by sales going up and up.

"On the other hand, there is no doubt that automation can make some jobs a lot less arduous for workers."

Kuka installed the entire Mini production line three years ago, first at Longbridge, in Birmingham, then in Cowley when BMW sold Rover but kept the Oxford factory.

Figures released this week by the British Automation and Robot Association (Bara) show that 500 robots were sold in Britain in the past three months, more than in any similar period before.

A Bara spokesman said that 400 of the robots were bought by just two car makers, Toyota, at Burnaston, near Derby, and BMW in Oxford.

The group, based at the University of Warwick, said sales showed there was still significant investment being made in British manufacturing and that the industry could remain profitable if technology was used appropriately.