BMW to have a ‘Made in India’ tag

BMW's first plant in India is set to rollout cars. The plant in Chennai will have the capacity to manufacture 1,700 BMWs each year. BMW will also have eight Indian outlets, in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. The cars, like all BMWs, won't come cheap, with prices expected to start at Rs 27 lakhs. Despite that stiff price tag, BMW is confident of success in the Indian market.

 

For German automaker BMW, India is a major destination. This February, the first BMWs made in its Chennai plant should start rolling out. And with manufacturing centred within the country, BMW sees its sales in India also multiplying.

 

General Manager, BMW, Michael Rebstock told SAW, "Our target is to increase our sales dramatically in India this year, from about 260 units which were sold in 2006 to more than 1,000 in 2007. Our production in India will enable us to develop us to deliver enough cars and to deliver it in the BMW accustomed quality.

 

BMW has invested nearly 20 million euros in its Chennai plant. And while various models of BMWs will be available in the country, the focus will be on models manufactured in India.

 

Rebstock says, "In our plant, we will build the three series and the five series and this will also be the main models for the Indian market." With BMW setting up its base in India, the market for luxury cars should rev up in 2007.

 

The smooth ride of a BMW is coming your way. And in a few weeks, some of the German automaker's models will be Made in India.

 

Anirudh Bhattacharyya