At the recently held BMW X5M and X6M launch in Chennai, we caught up with Mr. Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India, to know about the cities which contribute largely to the growing sales, festive offers lined up, launch of new 1-Series and local production of three-cylinder engines.
Philipp stated that cities like Mumbai and Delhi continue to be the biggest markets for the German car manufacturer; however, the brand has witnessed strong demand from Tier-II and Tier-III places like Vijaywada and Rajkot. These cities are contributing strongly in the additional sales of premium cars. The presence of new dealerships at these places will help BMW serve the prospective clients based out of these locations.
Talking of festive offers and discounts, he said, there will be lucrative schemes and offers running at all dealerships spread across the country starting this week. In addition, the brand is also confident on the new variants doing impressively in this season considering its novelty factor.
On asked about the tentative launch of the new BMW 1-Series in India, he was quick to add that the brand is evaluating the profit sense of launching it India as well as if local production of the premium hatchback would make sense for the company. It is only when the brand has concrete answers to these question, will it plan to launch the new 1-Series in India as well. Also, models like the 3-Series and 5-Series have always earned great numbers for the brand, making it a high profit proposition and a lucrative one too while entry level range has still not made it to the same. However, we believe that the niche hatch will arrive sometime in mid 2016 in India.
Lastly, when asked if the brand is thinking of locally producing the three-cylinder engine in India, Philipp stated that the brand is contemplating on it as the prime focus has always been the four-cylinder diesel engine, as it has been a popular and successful choice for its preferred clientele.
