To cater better to the cost-conscious Indian market, BMW will launch a pre-owned car business, BMW Premium Selection, by the end of this year. The German auto major is also set to double its current production capacity in Chennai to meet the growing demand.
“Our first showroom (for pre-owned cars) will be in Gurgaon, and later in Mumbai and Chennai,” said Andreas Schaaf, BMW India president, on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce here yesterday. Adding: “For increasing our production capacity in Chennai, we have already acquired additional land there.”
BMW’s installed capacity at the Chennai factory is 5,400 units yearly. It has produced 4,741 cars till October this year, compared to 3,600 in 2009. “We are likely to touch 5,000-6,000 in terms of production and are expected to clock more than 60 per cent growth this year. In October alone, BMW sold 753 cars in the premium segments, an all-time record,” Schaaf said.
The company has a 39 per cent market share in luxury cars and would launch the BMW-X1 early next year. “Production of the X1 has started in our Chennai plant. More, in terms of price we are ushering into a new era, as it will price close to Rs 25,00,000,” he said. So far, the company has invested Rs 1,800 crore in India.
The German car maker will also expand its dealer network. It will increase the number of outlets from 18 to 22 by 2011. “We want to widen our network by starting about 200 showrooms in the next two to three years. If the country’s luxury car sector grows like this, India will be one of the top 10 car markets in the next 10 years,” Schaaf added.
The size of the luxury car mart was 9,000 units in 2009 and this is expected to grow to 15,000 units this year.
