BMW to launch 3-Series GT model in India early next year

NDTV Profit Desk

09 Oct 2013, 11:18 AM IST

German luxury car maker BMW today said it plans to launch its new model 3-Series GT in India and also start its production in the country by early next year.

The company will also take a call early next year on launching either its electric vehicle i3 or hybrid model i8 in the country.

"We will be launching the 3-Series GT early next year in India. This will be assembled at our Chennai plant. The car will be positioned between our existing best-selling models 5- Series and 3-Series," BMW Group India president Phillip Von Sahr told PTI.

This will be the company's 8th model which would be assembled in India. BMW currently assembles seven models in the country including the 3, 5, and 7-Series and X1 models.

Last month the company had announced over two-fold increase in its investment on its Chennai plant to Rs 390 crore by the end of this year from Rs 180 crore announced earlier.

The company has also ramped up the capacity at its plant to 14,000 units per annum from 11,000 units.

Commenting on its plans to launch electric and hybrid car models in the country, Von Sahr said: "We have the i3 and i8 models and we think in the long run we can bring these vehicles to India. Beginning next year, we will take a decision on which one of these would be introduced in the Indian market."

i3 is an electrical vehicle with range extender and is priced around 35,000 Euros in Germany, while the plug in hybrid i8 is yet to hit the markets globally. Both the i3 and i8 are models from the company's sub brand BMW i.

The BMW i3 offers a range of 130-160 kms in everyday driving and this can be increased to a maximum 300 kms if the two-cylinder range extender combustion engine is specified.

The plug-in hybrid BMW i8 is slated to be launched globally next year.

Elaborating further on the company future expansion plans, Von Sahr said the company will be launching the sixth generation 5 Series on Thursday. He added that the company also plans to launch Z4 Roadster towards the end of the year.