Luxury car maker BMW is set to manufacture the iconic Mini brand in the country.
The company will start manufacturing the compact SUV, Mini Countryman, at its Chennai plant next month. It is expected to hit the Indian roads by the end of the year.
“This is the first time the Mini will be produced outside Europe,” said Robert Frittrang, Managing Director, BMW India.
The premium British brand, Mini, is currently produced only in Great Britain and Austria.
Countryman features
The Countryman, an elevated four-door mini SUV which can seat five persons, will be produced at the Chennai plant in two diesel variants - MINI Cooper D Countryman and MINI Cooper D Countryman High.
A petrol variant of the Mini One Countryman will also be produced at the Chennai plant.
BMW has been selling imported Mini Countryman, Mini Cooper and Cooper Convertible cars (completely built units) in India for a year now.
“Depending on how the Countryman develops, we will decide whether to start producing Cooper too at the Chennai plant,” said Frittrang, on the sidelines of the convocation ceremony of the Indo-German Training Centre.
Cooper, Convertible models
The imported Cooper and Convertible are priced between Rs 26.60 lakh and 32.50 lakh. The Countryman models are priced between Rs 23.50 lakh and Rs 37.50 lakh, according to a press release.
Local production will bring down the prices obviously, but BMW has not priced the cars yet, said Frittrang.
BMW had set up a 40-acre plant at Mahindra World City, Chennai, in 2007. It produces BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, X1 and X3 cars. This year, the plant will also start producing the 7 Series and 1 Series luxury sedans.
The plant, with two assembly lines, has a manufacturing capacity of 11,000 units, of which 90,000 units are being produced now.
The German car maker claims a leading share of 12 per cent of the luxury car market in India. So far, it has invested €60 million in India.
India is the 100th market in the global Mini sales network. From January 2012, Mini has established five exclusive outlets across Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.