BMW, the world famous luxury car maker, has been providing a lot of subtle hints to its Indian consumers on the aspect of launching its Mini brand in the Indian market. It now seems that the BMW Mini is coming to India sooner than expected and may be launched in the country on the 4th of January. Thus, the vehicle seems to have upset all calculations that auto experts had been making on its prospective launch at the Auto Expo 2012 to be held in Delhi, which incidentally starts on the 7th of January. BMW has taken the decision of projecting the BMW Mini as a completely separate entity, a move that could prove successful in the market. In fact, the auto maker has identified two exclusive new dealerships for these cars, which are located in Mumbai and Delhi.
It is expected that the BMW Mini will be offered at a price, which will be around the Rs.25 Lacs mark. This fact has given the company more reasons of having the vehicles introduced through sales outlets that are located in the top metropolitan cities of India. BMW has always maintained a singular strategic focus with respect to the Mini for the Indian market. The vehicle has been primarily aimed for enhancing its brand image and the company does not target to achieve large volumes from this brand in Indian markets. The volume based targets have been reserved for the comparatively lower priced Mini-One that is being offered to global markets. However, in lines with its commitment, the company is targeting the premium segment of hatchbacks in India, which does not have much brand presence, by bringing in its Mini Cooper. The BMW Mini branded cars have been subjected to a lot of changes over time and it also seems literally inappropriate for terming it as the “Mini”. The cars have always been high on the popularity charts and have been equipped with high performance petrol engines.
The Mini Cooper that is going to be launched in India is going to face competition from the Volkswagen Beetle and Fiat 500. It has been one year since BMW hinted about the probable launch of the Mini into the Indian market. President, BMW India, Andreas Schaaf had talked about this for the first time at the Auto Expo of 2011.
