No Mini for India

The feasibility study is over but the findings are not in our favour. Ya, we are discussing about BMW’s Mini. In 2007 BMW India kicked off a feasibility study on its Mini brand to ascertain its viability for India. Last week it completed the study and found that it is not going to be a viable option at the moment. “Last week, we have taken a decision to scrap plans to bring Mini by 2009. After the feasibility study we had undertaken, it is clear to us that it will not be viable to bring the car that soon,” BMW India India President Peter Kronschnabl said. He, however, reiterated that the company has not completely abandoned the plan to bring Mini in India. “Probably in another one to one-and-a-half years, we will have a re-look at the issue and assess the market again,” he said. The Mini is a smaller-sized car compared with the BMW series, but an imported vehicle could cost as much as Rs20 lakh. Assembling in India would result in 30% reduction in price and Mini would be Rs15-16 lakh, but the market for Mini is small and the investment would not justify local assembly.

Published by Karthick Annamalai

Karthick Annamalai

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.