Chennai : “It is a moment of great pride and joy for us at BMW Plant Chennai to roll-out the 10000th car made in India. The BMW Plant Chennai team is very excited with the achievement of this milestone in less than four years and looks forward to fulfil the increasing demand for BMW cars in India. BMW production is characterized by people that consider quality not only a task, but first and foremost a core attribute. I am convinced that our employees here at BMW Plant Chennai will make a great contribution in strengthening our company’s long-term success in India”, said Mr. Juergen Eder, Managing Director, BMW Plant Chennai.

On 29 March 2007, BMW India officially opened its production plant in Chennai. The BMW Plant Chennai produces the BMW 3 Series and BMW 5 Series sedans in petrol and diesel variants. By end of 2010, BMW Plant Chennai will also start producing the BMW X1. The BMW Plant Chennai has the capacity to produce 5400 units per year on a single shift basis. BMW India will employ around 400 people by end of 2010. Till September 2010, BMW Group has invested 1.1 billion Indian Rupees. BMW Group’s investment in India will be increased to 1.8 billion Indian Rupees by the end of 2012.

Headquartered in Gurgaon (National Capital Region), BMW India is a 100% subsidiary of the BMW Group. The wide range of BMW activities in India include the establishment of a production plant in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), a central spare parts warehouse in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and development of a dealer organisation across major metropolitan centres of the country.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Andreas Schaaf, President, BMW India said “Having taken the lead in the premium segment for the first time last year, we aim to maintain our leading position in the Indian market by now embarking on the second wave of our India strategy. We are confident that we will be able to increase sales substantially over the coming years with exciting new products, now produced in India and the ongoing expansion of our dealer network to reach out to more of our potential buyers.”

BMW India has set a decisive course in India by setting up BMW dealerships of international standards across all metropolitan centres of the country. In 2011, BMW India will aggressively expand its dealer network by increasing the number of outlets to 22 across major metropolitan centres and emerging markets in India (from the present 18 outlets). Up to 1200 jobs will be created in the dealer and service network.