BMW will increase prices of its India car range by up to 10 per cent from January next year.
The German automaker has a host of models in its kitty at price points starting from Rs 24 lakh for the X1, right up to Rs 88 lakh for the X6. Its 3 and 5-Series fall in the Rs 30-60 lakh price range. On Thursday, it launched the 6 Series Gran Coupe in Mumbai at an ex-showroom price of Rs 86.4 lakh.
Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India told Business Line that the company would follow the ‘sustainable leadership’ model where its premium positioning would never be compromised. BMW will, therefore, steer clear of the discounts game even if this means more volumes.
The company believes all this will only yield short-term results when the more important task on hand is to keep its brand intact. Its dealers, who are an integral part of this strategy, will get complete support for bringing in new products. However, they will have to ensure that BMW continues its premium standing in the Indian market which effectively means discounts are out.
Over the last year, BMW, Mercedes and Audi have been hitting the headlines for their sales numbers and leadership stakes in the premium segment. The fact that all three are top German carmakers has only added extra spice to this tug-of-war. BMW has now made it clear that volumes will not come at the cost of profits.