German car manufacturer BMW has announced that it will invest an additional Rs 130 crore in India, PTI reported on Monday. With this, BMW’s total investment in India will increase to Rs 1,250 crore.
The company will launch the new version of its locally manufactured 5 Series later in June as well as the 6 Series Gran Turismo in 2018. “Since 2007, we have been consistently investing in India,” said BMW India President Vikram Pawah. “This year, we are going to increase our investment further to up to Rs 1,250 crore on a cumulative basis.” Since 2007, the company has sold 66,000 vehicles in India, of which the 5 Series comprises nearly 30%.
Pawah added that the investments will fund BMW’s group operations, including its two-wheeler business, and its financial services arm. With this, the total investments in the BMW’s group operations in India will go up to Rs 520 crore and on BMW Financial Services to Rs 730 crore. The company also plans to increase its market share in the premium car segment in India from under 2% to between 5 and 10%.
However, Pawah said it will be difficult to popularise green vehicles in India as there is not enough infrastructure and government support, and consumers fear getting stranded when charge runs of electronic vehicles.
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