BMW’s Mini could be up to four years from the Indian market if a positive decision is made in a year.
“We will decide on the launch of Mini in India in a year’s time. If it is a positive decision, the brand will be in India in 2-3 years,” BMW India president Andreas Schaaf told the Hindustan Times.
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The automaker has been wary of acceptance of high end small cars in India. “It’s a premium small car with high price positioning. We have to see if it is big enough to deliver [a] sustainable business case,” said Schaaf.
The launch of Mini requires substantial investment from dealers as BMW plans separate sales network, brand positioning and marketing strategy for the brand.
Meanwhile, BMW is planning to set up another assembly line at its Chennai plant. “By the end of this year we will come to know if we need additional capacity,” Schaaf said.
BMW recently increased the capacity of its Chennai plant from 10,000 units to 11,000 units a year.
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By GlobalDataBMW, which now claims a slight upper edge over its competitor Mercedes Benz in the luxury car segment, almost doubled its volume in the first seven months at 5,364 while retaining its 40% plus market share. It targets 10,000 sales this year.
According to Schaaf the luxury car segment in India will grow 70% this year to 23,000 units from 15,000 units last year.
In the luxury SUV segment, which accounts for 30% of the premium market, BMW faces intense competition from Audi.
