BMW has been successful in selling 1,747 cars in the first six months of 2009 in the Indian market, economic slowdown notwithstanding. This has increased the company?s car sales by 12% as compared to the same period last year. Encouraged by the company?s performance in the first half of 2009, BMW targets to sell 3,000 cars this year-end as compared to 2,908 sold in 2008. Peter Kronschnabl, president, BMW India said, ?We are on track for our car sales planned this year. Recession did affect us but we took measures such as avoiding cash discounts and used tailor-made solutions for customers.?
While early 2009 saw the launch of three cars, BMW 7 Series, BMW X3 and BMW X6, BMW Z4, the two-seater roadster, is scheduled to be launched in October 2009. The car will be priced between Rs 50-60 lakh. The introduction of new models has had a positive impact on the performance of the company in the Indian market. ?While X6 is the first SUV coupe available in the world, we believe that latest launch of the other cars was mainly done for shaping up the BMW brand. We were able to increase our sales and with the Indian market environment easing up, we hope the second half of 2009 to be a turning point for us. For the Indian market, the saloon-shape luxury cars work well for the Indian roads,? said Kronschnabl. In the range of luxury cars, the company is targeting around 30-50 cars in India.
With 13 dealers in the Indian market, the company is currently working on dealership expansion plans starting September 2009 across the markets of Ludhiana, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur and Coimbatore. Kronschnabl said, ?All our dealers will be in the tier II cities and we will have 10 new dealers by 2010 end.? While all BMW products are imported, the company so far has does not intend to have any assembly plans for its cars in India.