Our strategy is not to be No 1 in discounting - mydigitalfc.com

BMW, which on Thursday launched 7 Series, is planning to launch 1 Series by September. To maintain the number one position, the company plans to launch more models in the country and will not get into the discounting race, Philipp von Sahr, president, BMW Group India, told Jharna Mazumdar. Excerpts In the luxury car segment in India, you are commanding the number one position. How do you plan to maintain it? Yes, we are the number one player in the luxury segment and will focus on retaining our leadership position. Our strategy is not to be number one in discounting… and although competition is steep, we continued to increase prices of our models by 5-10 per cent in January. We have sold 9,375 units in 2012. India is a growing market and there is a lot of scope in this market. What would be your next launch in the country? We are planning many more launches over the next few years. In September, we are planning to launch BMW 1 series. You have launched the new BMW 7 Series? What are its special features and how is it priced? It represents the best we have on offer. The new BMW 7 series, the flagship of the BMW brand, is the most fuel-efficient car among all the models we have launched so far. It is available in both petrol and diesel versions. The car can accelerate its speed from 0-100 km in around 6.2 seconds. It is a premium car with features of both luxury and sportiness. The price of the car starts from Rs 92.9 lakh up to Rs 1.73 crore. The new BMW 7 Series embodies unmatched luxurious comfort, sporting elegance and refined powertrain technology. Are you going to manufacture BMW 7 series in India? What is your capacity in the Chennai plant? We are manufacturing all core models in India while importing the niche models. The BMW 730Ld will be locally produced (in a diesel variant) at the BMW plant in Chennai. The BMW 740Li, BMW 750Li, and the BMW 760 Li will be imported as CBU (completely built-up units) in petrol variants. At the moment, we have capacity of 11,000 units per annum at our Chennai plant and if required, we can ramp up our capacity of the plant. The BMW 7 series will be available from May 1. Are you planning to increase your dealer network in the country? At the moment, we have 35 dealers in the country. We plan to have 50 dealers by 2014. jharnamazumdar@mydigitalfc.com via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGpU2pFwxr1T34qpPh5ysmdu_CDQw&url=http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/our-strategy-not-be-no-1-discounting-690

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