BMW Starts Production of Mini in India - Wall Street Journal (India)

By SANTANU CHOUDHURY NEW DELHI--Bayerische Motoren Werke AG has started assembling the Mini in India as part of its strategy to sell the premium small car at lower prices and expand its sales. Handout photo BMW announced the local production of Mini. The German auto maker assembles the car at its factory near the southern port city of Chennai. India is the third country, after the U.K. and Austria, where it builds the Mini. BMW also assembles the 3 Series and 5 Series sedans, as well as the X1 and X3 sport-utility vehicles in Chennai. It plans to also build the 7 Series and the 1 Series cars at the same location later this year. Building cars in India helps BMW and other foreign auto makers save on local taxes. India recently increased the import tax on fully built imported cars to 100% of their cost from 75%. Cars made by companies such as BMW, which import engines and gear boxes, attract a 30% duty, while vehicles assembled from both imported and locally produced parts attract a 10% tax. Other companies such as Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz luxury car unit, Audi AG and Tata Motors Ltd.'s Jaguar Land Rover also assemble some of their cars and SUVs in India. In a press release Wednesday, BMW said producing the Mini locally will help the company meet "the steadily increasing demand" for the car in India. The company introduced the Mini in India in 2012 and it sold 302 units of the car in the first year. The car is sold through five outlets in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and its price ranges from 2.35 million rupees ($43,559) to 3.75 million rupees. The Mini Countryman will be the first variant of the car that will be produced in Chennai. It will make its debut in India with two diesel-engine options. A gasoline variant will also be produced in Chennai. In India, the company will also import as fully built units the gasoline-engine versions of the Mini Countryman, Mini as well as the Mini Convertible. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNH56Y7b7MIhVZVEBViR1sYwajHepQ&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324493704578428321142471586.html

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