BMW India ‘bimming’ ahead

While many manufacturers are closing down plants to stop piling up inventory, BMW has defied the downturn, at least  in India. BMW's specialist 'M' or the 'Motorsport' division has improved on sales internationally and the BMW brand as a whole has posted impressive sales in India. The Bavarians say they have recorded a 100% growth in the sales of their cars here in India in 2008. BMW, which had already delivered 2,700 cars in India by the end of November this year, plans to get to the 2,800 figure by the end of this month. Given that BMW had only sold 1,387 cars in India last year, the above figures are certainly commendable. And while the company does expect sales to dip in 2009, it still plans to increase its dealership network, spreading to relatively smaller tier 2 cities like Ludhiana, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur and Coimbatore. This should balance the sales and keep it stable. BMW's Chennai plant runs on a single shift producing 3000 cars a year but expect it to run in two shifts if the demand increases. Definitely interesting that BMW is still performing well in certain markets and this can be comparable to the Eastern Europe market where the BMW SAV sales have been nothing but impressive for the past year. Many of the X6s and X5s manufactured here in the States found a home in these markets, of course, at a premium price. This is an exclusive article for BMW Blog from indianautosblog.com