BMW Mini only after 2010

Luxury car giant BMW is mulling over the possibility of rolling out its luxury small car Mini in India in the near future.

BMW has pointed out that the company is at the momentin the process of a feasibility study. Company top brass said that the luxury small car Mini would debut in India only after year 2010. This is probably a wise idea, considering that India’s automotive market is in the doldrums right now.

BMW will probably introduce the lowest rung Mini in India – and even that is likely to be priced at Rs 20 lakh, putting it pretty much the same range as a Fiat 500 in India. This will of course be a flagship car for the company in India. We first wrote about the BMW Mini launch in India in 2007.

It was announced in early 2008 that the Mini would come to India in 2009. But the slowdown in the market means that BMW would not be in any hurry to launch it in India.

The car major has, in the meanwhile, lined up efforts to post over 100 per cent growth in car sales in India this year. As per plans, the company is likely to deliver 2,800 vehicles to customers in India in 2008 against 1,387 cars sold in 2007.

BMW India, which kicked off its presence in Kerala with a showroom and workshop in Kochi has targeted sales of 2,800 units. The company has till November-end delivered as many as 2,703 cars in the country.

The Kochi dealership adds to its existing 12 dealers India-wide. More are in the anvil at in tier II cities such as Ludhiana, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur and Coimbatore. These new dealerships are to come up by end of 2009. BMW sold 4,300 cars in the luxury segment in the last calendar year while 7,000 cars have been sold this year. BMW had a market share of 39 per cent in the luxury segment.

The company currently rolls out around 12 cars per day in India, and the package consist of models such as BMW 3 and BMW 5 series. The company currently has a manufacturing hub near Chennai. The company has implemented batch production system at the Chennai plant and assembles completely knocked down (CKD) kits. According to a BMW official each batch consists of 24 units and boasts of a highly flexible production line.