BMW India’s facility rolls out the 100,00th car

CHENNAI: BMW India’s plant at Chennai in Tamil Nadu has rolled off its 10,000th car from its production line. The facility, which produces the 3 Series and 5 Series sedans in petrol and diesel variants, will also begin manufacturing the X1 SUV by the end of this year. It is to be mentioned that the BMW Plant Chennai has the capacity to produce 5,400 units per year on a single shift basis. The Indian arm of the Munich-headquartered company will employ around 400 people by end of 2010. BMW Group, which has invested 1.1 billion Indian Rupees for its Indian operations till September 2010, will now be jacking up the amount to Rs. 1.8 billion by the end of 2012. “It is a moment of great pride and joy for us at BMW Plant Chennai to roll-out the 10,000th 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 fulfill the increasing demand for BMW cars in India. BMW production is characterised 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 Juergen Eder, Managing Director, BMW Plant Chennai. 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.” It may be recalled that on 29 March 2007, BMW India officially opened its production plant in Chennai. Headquartered in Gurgaon (National Capital Region), BMW India is a 100 pc 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. BMW India has set a decisive course in India by setting up its dealerships of international standards across the length and breadth of the country. In 2011, the Indian arm of the German luxury carmaker will aggressively expand its distribution network by ramping up the number of outlets to 22. In the process, nearly 1,200 jobs will be created at the company’s dealers’ and service facility’s end.