1) BMW 320d front view Indian luxury car market accounts for only 2-3% of total car sales and Indian luxury market is at very nascent stage when compared to china but what lures International majors is the luxury market is growing at 28% higher than 17% growth of small car. More than 5,000 luxury cars were sold in 2006, up from 3,000 in 2005 and just 1,000 in 2004.
2) BMW 320d side view Mercedes, BMW, Porche, Audi, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce are prominent players in this segment Aston Martin and Ferrari are in the process of following suit. Luxury car makers are lining up more models and revising their sales target for india. Volvo plans to bring XC90 SUV and S80 luxury sedan and it plans to launch two additional models every year in order to expand its offering in the Indian market. BMW , Mercs and Audi are finding difficult to meet the growing demand. Most of their models have more than 3 months of waiting period for delivery.
3) BMW 320d rear view: BMW’s 3 series has three variants- the 320d diesel variant, entry level 320i and top end 325i petrol versions. The 3 series is priced between Rs 26.7 lakh and Rs 32.2 lakh outsold Mercs C class since its debut. Mercedes seems to be losing its battle with BMW in India. While Mercedes will counter BMW’s threat with its next generation C class which plans to bring india by 2008, BMW plans upgrade its existing 3-series model by introducing the 330i in the near future.
4) BMW 3 series 320d tail lamp and alloy wheels: A liberal economic regime during the past 15 years has seen the rich becoming richer and the richer even wealthier. For India’s growing club of millionaires fuel efficiency and price tags are no longer the deciding factors, its design and Brand counts more. Because of this luxury and super luxury segments are expanding exponentially. Now Indians want to wait for new generation cars as they want to be treated similar to an European or an American.
5) BMW 3 series 320d – stylish headlamp and BMW’s characteristic snout: BMW has revised its sales target for india from 1000 to 1200 units a year considering the good response. Till June-end we have sold a combined of 424 units of our 3 and 7 series sedans. While the 3 series has been BMW’s growth driver its super luxury sedan 7 Series, which is priced at Rs 74 lakh upto Rs 1.25 crore, is expected to sell about 170 units this year. BMW has announced the market launch of its premium luxury sedan 5 Series with prices starting at Rs 37 lakh and going up to Rs 45 lakh (ex-showroom) in July. BMW’s new look 7-series is most likely to be introduced in India by the 2008-end. BMW also plans to launch its sports coupe car M Series M3 and M5 by next year. BMW already has eight dealers and by the end of the 2009, it plans to have 12 dealers.
catch up the interiors and exteriors of newly launched BMW 5 series soon in our pictorial review of BMW 523i