BMW to deepen marquee focus in Indian market

BMW marked its latest foray into the Indian luxury car market with the launch of the new BMW X5 xDrive30d here on Thursday. None other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was roped in for the launch.

Top officials of the company also announced plans for further expanding the German car maker’s presence in India.

"The third generation BMW X5 is once again setting a benchmark for powerful design interior spaciousness and luxury, versatility driving pleasure, efficiency, importance for fuel economy and innovative equipment features. It accentuates the masculine presence and powerful personality and offers customers an all-round package that meets the most exacting of the varied demands,” Philip von Sahr, President  BMW Group India, said.|

The new BMW X5 will be locally produced at the BMW Chennai plant in the diesel variant and will be available at dealerships throughout the country from June.

Bookings will be open at an ex-showroom price of Rs 70.90 lakh.  "I had a BMW X5 back in 2002 and it is a special car. It is very good for both offroad and onroad driving. In a true sense. it is an all-rounder that meets all my requirements," Tendulkar said.

The new BMW X5 boasts a 3-litre twin turbo-powered turbo six-cylinder diesel engine with an output of 258 hp (horse-power) and torque of 560 Nm. Key features include an onboard driver information system with touch controller and handwriting recognition as well as a BMW Navigational Professional with 26 cm colour display and 3D maps.

Philip said that the luxury car market has great potential, especially in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities where a whole new group of young professionals are emerging.

Between 2010 and 2012, BMW’s focus was on “growth and leadership” in the luxury car segment, Philip said. However, after 2012, more attention has been devoted to growing the customer base:  "We plan to aggressively expand in the country; as part of this plan, we will be opening 50 sales outlets in the metropolitan cities," he said.

The outlets will most probably be opened by the end of next year. Also ahead is a slew of new launches this year. "We will be launching a number of cars from the mini and the luxury portfolios," Philip said.