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Schaaf: Growth plans
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Mumbai, July 29: BMW India is set to introduce four models in the second half of this calender year to retain its No. 1 position in the premium car segment. The Indian arm of the German company, which sold 4,457 units till June this year, will bring in its 6 series coupe and launch variants of its 7, X1 and X6 series.
“The company is confident of closing the year with 8 to 9 per cent growth,” said BMW India president Andreas Schaaf on the sidelines of the new 3 series launch in Mumbai recently. If BMW manages a 9 per cent growth, it will touch the 10,000-unit sales mark this year. At present, it has a 40 per cent market share in the premium segment.
On reports of the company losing its No. 1 position to Audi, the outgoing president said: “We have been and will continue to be the number one luxury car manufacturer in India. We sold 750 units in June this year, while our rival, who is claiming to have replaced us in the number one position has done 718 units. (Audi, however, reported sales of 759 units in June 2012). And we have been outselling them every month.”
Schaaf said: “Let’s not compare apples with pears, because we, at BMW, report only retail figures and not wholesale figures. Worldwide, all car companies report retail figures, we don’t just put up the numbers that we sell to our dealers, we follow the car right to our customers because we care about our customers.”
Schaaf will be replaced by Phillip von Sahr in October. Sahr has been in charge of the company’s Belgium market.
BMW will also add eight dealerships, taking the total number to 40 this year. The company, which sold 9,371 units in 2011, has been experiencing a flat growth till now.
“We are banking heavily on the festive season. Though markets are down, there is no lack of interest from our customers. The enquiry level has not gone down. So we are bringing in new products to excite our customers. That, with hopes of rate cuts, gives us the confidence of tiding over the difficult period,” Schaaf said.
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