Luxury car maker BMW today said it has sought regulatory approval for incorporating a finance subsidiary to serve the credit needs of retail customers, fleet owners and dealers.
"We are going to invest $50 million over the next two years in the project. We have applied for the NBFC status and we are hopeful of securing government permission by May 2010," BMW India President Peter Kronschanabl told reporters here.
BMW sought the non banking financial company (NBFC) status for its proposed retail financing arm — BMW Financial Services India — which would be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, on par with BMW India, and would be run by a new head. It would be headquartered at Gurgaon.
The investment for the financing arm would be made by the Munich-based BMW Group, Kronschanabl said.
"I believe we will be competitive in the market. But at this moment I cannot say anything about issues like interest rate and other technicalities," he said.
BMW Financial Services was established in 1993 and it has subsidiaries in 31 countries, besides presence in more than 60 nations across the globe.