BMW India to go to tier II cities; have 15 dealers in 1 yr

German luxury car maker BMW plans to increase its dealership in tier II cities in India after raising its sales target for the country.

BMW India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of BMW AG, will open showrooms in Lucknow, Coimbatore and Jaipur, taking its total dealership network from the current 12 to 15 in the next one year.

"We will have dealers in tier II towns like Lucknow, Coimbatore and Jaipur in the next one year," BMW India Peter Kronschnabl told reporters here on Tuesday.

The company, which sold 1,397 cars in calendar year 2007, raised its sales target in India by 40 per cent to 2,800 cars by December 2008. It has already sold about 2,000 cars in the country so far this year. "We are not affected by any slowdown in the automobile sector in India," he said.

On the contrary, the luxury car market in India will cross the 7,000 mark by the end of this year, significantly higher than 4,300 cars last year, Kronschnabl added. BMW India also plans to launch an amateur golf tournament series for its customers in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi from September 6. The national final of the tournament would be held in November in Gurgaon.