Make In India: BMW might start local assembly of Mini Convertible

BMW, the luxury car maker from Germany, which launched its fifth Mini Convertible model in India yesterday, has said that it is open to local assembly of the car when it reaches a critical mass in sales.

"We can look at local assembly here, when we reach a critical mass in sales volume. That can happen some years down the line," BMW Group India President Philipp von Sahr told PTI.

As of now, BMW India has an assembly line in Chennai, which makes eight models in the country.

BMW, the luxury carmaker from Germany, which launched its fifth Mini Convertible model in India yesterday, has said that it is open to local assembly of the car when it reaches a critical mass in sales. "We can look at local assembly here, when we reach a critical mass in sales volume. That can happen some years down the line," BMW Group India President Philipp von Sahr told PTI.

As of now, BMW India has an assembly line in Chennai, which makes eight models in the country. Sahr also added that the company does not want to make it a mass-brand just to increase the volume at the cost of the brand proposition of being the most premium small car in the world and in India.

"Selling say 1,000 units as a premium brand and doubling that number at a lower price does not make much of a qualitative difference," he said while also adding that the mini doesn’t have any competition at all in this market.

In the international market, BMW sold over 1.64 lakh units of Mini car in the first five years, while in India, it has been trending around 400 units per annum ever since it entered the market in 2012.

Globally, amongst the largest selling model is the Cooper S, which is priced at Rs 31.4 lakh in India. Yesterday, its latest model, the Mini Cooper S Convertible, was launched at an introductory price of Rs 34.9 lakh, ex-showroom national.

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