The Indian arm of BMW, a world renowned German automobile marque, has introduced the ultra-modish 6 Series Gran Coupe sedan in Indian imported luxury car market, with a price tag of Rs. 86.40 lacs on November 8, 2012. The latest addition to BMW's Indian portfolio is a four-door premium luxury saloon and will be marketed via the Completely Built Units (CBU) route.
The brand new 2012 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is believed to be targeting at enhancing the German auto giant's brand equity in the country. Being the German auto maker's maiden offering in four-door coupe segment, the 6 Series Gran Coupe holds a 3.0 litre, 2,993 cc, TwinPower Turbo diesel powerplant with a 6 cylinder configuration. The beast of an engine churns out a peak power of 313 bhp at 4,400 rpm and a mammoth torque output of 630 Nm between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm. The engine assembly comes mated to a state-of-the-art eight speed automatic transmission system that enables the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe to hit a top speed of 250 kmph.
Further, The German auto major is looking towards augmenting its market share and has working on hiking the retail values of its entire domestic fleet by up to 10 per cent in the Indian auto market. Philipp Von Sahr, President, BMW Group India, has affirmed that the company has decided to start assembling Completely Knocked Down (CKD) units of 1 Series at its Chennai based production unit by the end of 2013.
Expressing his views on the upcoming price hike and next launches by company on domestic turf, Sahr said, “It is a tough economical situation...we will increase the prices of our products by up to 10 per cent depending on models by 2013. In the next few days the new X6 will be launched.”
Commenting on the company's estimated sales targets for 2012 and future investment at its Chennai facility, Sahr, said, “We want to see volumes increase but we will not give discounts like some of our competitors are doing just to push volumes. We have increased the capacity at the plant to 11,000 units a year now from 1,500 in 2007. We have the flexibility and we can react on future capacity needs.”
Currently, BMW Group of India is the most sought after premium luxury sports car maker in the country and has a really diverse product portfolio. The company retails its 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series luxury saloons, along with Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) X1, X3, X5, premium crossover X6 in the country. BMW India also has the much fawned upon M Series, Z4 Roadster and Gran Tourismo in its arsenal as well. The BMW saloons in India come in a price bracket between Rs. 24.5 lacs and Rs. 1.40 crore, at present.
With the new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, the company has upped the ante against the likes of segment creator Mercedes-Benz CLS Class. The new Beemer is also expected to pose some stiff competition against the likes of Audi A8, Volkswagen Phaeton and Porsche Panamera on Indian soil.
