Yes, as per recent reports, BMW, a German luxury car maker will consider increasing the production capacity of its Indian manufacturing facility in 2011 on the basis of the sales achievement above 3,000-units mark next year.

Peter Kronschnabl, President of BMW India says, “If the market grows, we are ready to ramp up production and will consider further investment. At present, our capacity is sufficient to meet the demand till next year”.

The fully owned subsidiary of BMW group, BMW India has a manufacturing unit in Chennai with an annual capacity of 3,000 units in single shift.

The company is expecting its total sales (including imported models) to cross 3,000 units within this year, of which about 75 per cent is likely to come from the two models- 3-Series and 5-Series, assembled in Chennai, says the President of the company.

Kronschnabl added, “As the trend indicates, we will be able to sell 3,000 units of 3-Series and 5-Series cars in 2010. After that we will have to consider capacity expansion”.

BMW India also sells 6-Series and 7-Series in the luxury segment, X3, X5 and X6 in sports utility segment and M3, M5 and M6 in the convertible sports coupe category as completely-built-units (CBU) in India on top of the two luxury sedans.

Kronschnabl said that the Indian luxury car market, which stood at 7,400 units last year, is expected to grow to about 9,000 units this year to touch the 10,000-mark in 2010.

Moreover, BMW India also has plans to launch a two-seater roadster- Z4 on the eve of Deepawali in October in order to expand its product portfolio, which is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 50-60 lakh.

There was also an announcement of the new product to be revealed by company at the upcoming auto expo in Delhi in January next year, but details were missing.

Although, the decision of brining its small car ‘Mini’ to India was dropped due to high price tag because of fully import route.

Kronschnabl told about sourcing its components for its global operations from India, “We have closed negotiations with couple of suppliers for a few areas, including forging and casting, but we haven't signed any major contract. By the end of 2009, we can give a clear picture."

The company has also seen a 14 per cent boost in sales compared to last year January-July with 2,008 units from last years 1,763 units in the same time.

Top Selling BMW Cars in India
BMW 5-Series Sedan
BMW 3-Series Sedan
BMW 6-Series Sedan
BMW 7-Series Sedan
BMW X-5 SUV

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New BMW 320d EfficientDynamics Edition
New BMW 7 Series High Security: A new definition of maximum security
BMW plans to re-enter Indian market with Motorrad bikes
BMW delivers 127,546 vehicles in June

Related Books:
The Complete Book of BMW
BMW 1600: Collection No. 1
BMW 8 Series Performance Portfolio

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Posted by Naresh Koshti on 28 August, 2009 12:03:56 PM IST #