BMW Thinks Premium Car Sales in India Will Reach 1 Lakh Units by 2020

Frank Schloeder, Director, Marketing, BMW India, explained that the segment, which comprises cars priced above Rs 25 lakh, was hardly between 1-1.5 per cent of total car sales at about 30,000-35,000 units per year and would scale up to 1 lakh in five years.

Mr Schloeder further added that BMW has been constantly registering 'good growth' in India backed by the BMW Group's investment of Rs 4.9 million so far. The company currently has a manufacturing facility in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Mumbai, and a training centre in Gurgaon. With nearly 50 per cent localised components, a total of 9 models (8 BMW + the MINI Countryman) are manufactured at the BMW Chennai plant.

The German luxury carmaker launched its plug-in-hybrid sports car, BMW i8, in India this year. As far as future plans go, BMW intends to launch the new BMW 7 series and a small SUV in the first quarter of 2016 that will be put up for display at the 2016 Auto Expo in February.