BMW Group steps up its activities in India

The BMW Group is strengthening its commitment in the growth market of India. As a first step, local production capacity at the BMW plant in Chennai has been increased from 3,000 to 5,400 units and the dealer network further expanded.

Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Production said that India is a market that holds great potential for the future for the company and is a building block in their global market offensive. The success so far has proved that the ‘production-follows-the-market’ strategy, which has already been successful in markets such as the US and China, is the right approach, added Frank. He also quoted that they are expanding capacity,by gearing the plant to produce a further model for the Indian market, the X1, starting in November 2010 and thereby opening up new customer segments.

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In addition to strengthening capacity, a new vehicle logistics centre will also be set up on the grounds of the Chennai plant, for which land has already been acquired. By mid-2012, the BMW Group will have invested a total of EUR 30 million in India since launching production there in 2007.

At the same time, BMW is also stepping up its local sales and marketing activities. To meet rising customer demand for BMW vehicles and services, its sales network will be systematically expanded to 22 dealerships by 2011 – almost doubling its size since early 2009. Towards the end of this year, BMW Financial Services will also begin offering its financial services in the Indian market for the first time.

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In the first eight months of this year alone, BMW sales in India climbed 43% to reach a total of 3,301 units. This means that the BMW Group has already sold almost as many vehicles in India this year as in the whole of 2009.

The ongoing expansion of BMW's dealer network means that they will be present in all major regions of India and would be able to reach more than 95 percent of the potential buyers, according to Andreas Schaaf, president of BMW Group’s Indian subsidiary. Having taken the lead in the premium segment for the first time last year, BMW aims to maintain the leading position this year with the market launch of the new 5 Series.

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