BMW India to grow dealership network

German luxury carmaker BMW plans to introduce four new models in India in 2009. According to Peter Kronschnabl, president, BMW India, the company would introduce its latest BMW 3 Series as well as its new 7 Series luxury saloon cars in the first quarter of 2009.

BMW would also launch the X6 sport utility vehicle in the third quarter of the year. The company also plans to increase its dealership network in Tier II cities in India after raising its sales target for the country. It has chalked out an extensive dealer development strategy to support its plan for multiplying its annual sales volume.

As part of its expansion plan, the company has announced the opening of Platino Classic, its dealership in Kochi, Kerala, last month. With this new dealership, BMW now has 12 dealers across the country including Bird Automotive (Gurgaon, NCR), Deutschen Motoren (New Delhi); Navnit Motors (Mumbai), Infinity Cars (South Mumbai); Krishna Automobiles (Chandigarh); Navnit Motors (Bangalore), Delta Motors (Hyderabad), Kun Exclusive (Chennai), Bavaria Motors (Pune), OSL Prestige (Kolkata), Parsoli Motors (Ahmedabad) and Platino Classic (Kochi) .

BMW India will further strengthen the network by expanding into Ludhiana, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur and Coimbatore by the end of 2009. Its dealerships display the 3 Series range (325i, 320i and 320d, 320d Highline) and 5 Series (525i, 530i, 520d, 530d and 530d Highline) that are produced at the BMW plant in Chennai. Among the fully imported models on display are the 6 Series (650i Coupé and 650i Convertible), 7 Series (740Li, 750Li, 760Li and 730Ld), X3 (X3 2.0 d) and the X5 (X5 3.0d and X5 4.8i).

The company, which sold 1,397 cars in calendar year 2007, raised its sales target in India by 40 per cent to 2,800 cars for the year ended December 2008. During the 11 months ended November 2008, BMW had already sold 2,705 cars in India making it quite likely to exceed the target.