BMW India to roll out 5 Series sedan by Jun

After selling more than 500 cars in the first two months of its operations, BMW India, the fully owned subsidiary of German luxury car maker BMW, plans to roll out its mid-luxury sedan 5 Series by June from its Chennai factory and launch its sport utility vehicles (SUV) X3 and X5 through the import route later this year.

The impressive start has prompted the company to hike its sales target to 1,200 units from the earlier 1,000 units for the current calendar year. Peter Knorschnabl, president, BMW India said: "There has been terrific response to our products and the 5 Series is expected to propel it further. Our SUVs, which are currently undergoing homologation process at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune would be launched in next few months and help us to garner larger market share in the luxury car market."

The new 5 Series sedan is expected to be in the price range of Rs 37 to 42 lakh while the company is yet to determine the prices of its SUVs. BMW India had sold 107 units in April and is expected to sell 300 units by end of this month, which would surpass its last year's sales of 257 units. It immediate competitor DiamlerChrysler has sold 2,121 units in the last fiscal year.

The company will also expand its sales network by appointing 12 dealers across the country. BMW will also open its international purchasing office (IPO) in India to out-source its worldwide ancillaries requirement.

"We will be setting up an independent IPO to source components for BMW's global operations from India. The office is expected to be operational by August end. Currently, we source a few IT components from India," Kronschnabl said.