The Hindu Business Line : BMW’s high-tech M cars to hit Indian roads

New Delhi, Jan. 9 German super luxury car manufacturer BMW, which has been mulling the possible launch of its super performance M cars in the Indian market, on Wednesday announced that these powerful premium vehicles are being debuted starting with the M3 coupe.

The new M3 coupe, the M5 sedan and the M6 coupe are all being launched and have been priced in the range of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore.

These cars, which combine high performance and super luxury, will be imported from the company’s M-Division in Germany.

In addition to these cars, BMW India is also using the opportunity provided by the Auto Expo to launch the individual versions of the 7-Series and 6-Series. Starting this month, the BMW 750Li and the 650i can be ordered as CBUs by buyers at the company’s dealerships.

Speaking at the launch here on Wednesday, Mr Peter Kronschnabl, President, BMW India, said that the M cars feature high performance Formula 1 technology and at the same time offer premium comfort. The BMW Individual cars, on the other hand, offer super exclusivity in the choice of materials and options that buyers can choose from.

Talking about the company’s sales performance during 2007, Mr Kronschnabl said that compared to the initial target of 1,000 cars, BMW India successfully delivered about 1,387 cars during the year. The company is targeting sales of 2,000 vehicles for 2008.

To provide for the growth in production required for the projected increase in sales this year, BMW has increased the capacity at its Chennai plant from 1,700 units per annum to about 3,000 units per annum on a single shift basis.

The capacity increase has been achieved through the introduction of additional workstations and a further optimisation of processes on the assembly line.

BMW India is also putting in place an aggressive plan for development of a larger dealer network across the major metros of the country. Phase I of the dealer network expansion plan would include 12 dealers by the end of 2008. The next round of BMW dealerships will come up in Kochi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

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