BMW LOOKING COIMBATORE
Auto major BMW on Tuesday announced that its plans of launching a 'mini' car in india "were open," with discussions in this regard on with the company's headquarters in Germany.Peter Kronschnabl, President, BMW India, told reporters at the launch of 'BMW M3' and the opening of Kun Exclusive, the auto major's dealer in Chennai today, that the 'mini' car would cost Rs 20 lakh. We are looking at cities such as Coimbatore, Jodhpur and Surat and the first such showroom would be opened by the year-end"I cannot say when the car would be launched in India. The market analysis for the launch is over and the discussions (about its results) are on with the headquarters", he said while declining to divulge the details of the market analysis."It's a brand;just not a car," Kronschnabl said.Responding to a query, he said the company had no plans of producing cars run on CNG in india.
With BMW selling 1387 cars in India last year, it aimed at selling omore this calendar year, Kronschnabl said."With the increase in the capacity of the Chennai plant, from 1700 units per year in 2007 to 3000 units this year, we aim to sell 200 cars in the country by the end of this calendar year," he said.
USD 7.5 lakh was invested in enhancing the capacity at the Chennai plant, he added.As many as 241 cars in February and 229 in January had been delivered across india this year, he said.With the objective of catering to potential customers in Tier-II cities in india, the company was planning smaller showrooms in such cities, as against the 20,000 sq.ft showroom in Chennai that was inaugurated today, which had a capacity of handling 20 cars (for service) a day.
"We are looking at cities such as Coimbatore, Jodhpur and Surat, among others, in the country and the first such showroom would be opened by the year-end," he said adding three more big showrooms in Kochi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata would be added to the existing nine,by June this year.
