BMW to launch M3 and M5 sports sedans in India

German carmaker Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) on Tuesday said it plans to launch its sports car M series in India by 2008. The luxury carmaker’s announcement comes in the backdrop of an enthusiastic response to its products in the country.

BMW also announced the market launch of its luxury sedan 5 series. BMW said the prices of the 5 series will be in the range of Rs 37-45 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.

The German luxury carmaker has been apparently buoyed by the response it got from the country, selling 424 units of its 3 and 7 series. This has also acted as a trigger for BMW to revise its target upwards by 20% from 1,000 to 1,200 units this calendar year. BMW India President Peter Krnoschnabl was quoted as saying that July sales is expected to exceed the 100 unit mark. BMW, which is also launching the SUV X5 later this year, says it has already bagged good orders for the 5 series. BMW said its M series cars M3 and M5 will be rolled out as imports in the country, albeit as per orders from potential buyers. The 3 series would cost between Rs 26 lakh to Rs 33 lakh, the carmaker said. BMW also sees the 3 series to be the primarily power its growth in the country.

BMW also has set ambitious targets for its 7 Series, which is a super luxury sedan. The 7 Series will be priced in the Rs 74 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore range. BMW has set a sales target of 170 units for the 7 Series. With this BMW will have a 5 product portfolio in India, including the X3 and X5 SUVs, apart from the 3,5,7 Series vehicles. BMW, which has eight dealers in the country, is trying to expand its dealer base also as it raises its targets. By 2009, BMW plans to have 12 or more dealers in India.

The Munich headquartered BMW, founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in 1917, had revenues of 49 billion euros in 2006 globally. Meanwhile, BMW is likely to report a fall in quarterly global profit as rising production costs and the surge of euro against the dollar slashes its revenues from the US. The surge in rubber and steel costs are also a cause of worry for BMW. Last year, 24% of BMW’s revenues came from North America and only 22% from Germany, while United Kingdom contributed 11% and Asia chipped in with 13% of sales. The remaining revenues came from Europe.