BMW set to raise capacity

Luxury carmaker BMW on Tuesday announced it had expanded capacity at its Chennai facility to churn out 5,400 units on an annual basis from the earlier 3,000 units. The company will invest another Rs 70 crore to enhance capacity even further by 2012. BMW has till date invested Rs 110 crore in its Chennai unit. The company declined to specify by how much the capacity would go up by 2012. Frank–Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, said: “India is a market that holds great potential for us and is a building block in our global market offensive.” To support operations in the country, BMW will double manpower to 400 from the present 200 by the end of this year. “At the same time as we are expanding capacity, we will also be gearing the plant to produce a further model, XI, for the Indian market, starting in November 2010 and thereby opening up new customer segment,” Arndt added. At present, BMW’s 3-Series and 5-Series are manufactured at Chennai. It is also looking at expanding its dealership network to 22 by next year from the present 18. It has also plans for a pre-owned car business, with the launch of BMW Premium Selection by the end of 2010. BMW would, for the first time, launch pre-owned car showrooms in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai.