MINI, a brand owned by luxury car maker BMW, became an unprecedented hit at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo. The iconic British marquee was booked by 100 people just within six days of its unveiling.
A company official said, “We can sell around 200 units in the first year, as these models are all imported and orders have to be placed many months in advance. The highest demand is for the Countryman SUV and convertible variants.” According to the official, the company will start delivering the vehicles from April 2012 only.
This is in stark contrast to the success of its competitors in India, namely Fiat 500 (Rs. 16 lacs) and Volkswagen Beetle (Rs. 21 lacs). The former sold just one unit in India in 2010-11 and was subsequently discontinued, while VW rolled out 59 units of the latter between April and December 2011.
BMW is importing the MINI brand in India as Completely Built Units (CBUs). The MINI line-up consists of 5 models, with prices ranging between Rs. 25 lacs and Rs. 37 lacs. The German auto manufacturing giant is also setting up a separate dealership network in 2012 for this new brand, starting from metropolitans like New Delhi and Mumbai.
