2011 has been a fantastic year for BMW India. Sure, they missed their target of selling 8,000 cars. But that’s like saying they aimed for the stars and touched the moon. Hoping to continue their lead in the Indian luxury car market, BMW plans to attack the Expo with a bang!
First up is launch of the Mini brand in India. The much awaited iconic British brand is finally going to make inroads to India. MINI will be introduced in India as a CBU unit with the launch of MINI, MINI Convertible and MINI Countryman.
Following it up will be the BMW Vision ConnectedDrive concept from Geneva which was a glimpse of technology BMW has been developing and will be integrating into future cars. The ConnectedDrive concept is a follow up to the VisionEfficientDynamics concept showcased in Delhi last year.
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Motorbeam is reporting BMW will sell Mini Countryman and Cooper models in India next year. BMW has been studying India for its Mini brand for the last couple of years and has been postponing it due to unfavorable market conditions.
Mini will retail these two-door products through exclusive showrooms and isn’t interested in sharing space with BMW cars. The cars will be assembled at the company’s factory in Chennai. The expected starting price for a Mini is expected to touch 15 lakh rupees. For that money, a 180bhp 1.6-liter engine will be offered. Not so bad, then.
BMW says it would not be possible to sell the Mini brand of cars in India in BMW dealerships. It anticipates to sell 100 cars a year, but the investment needed to set up dedicated shops isn’t going to come till the end of this year. Read More- Hindustan Times
The Italian carmaker Fiat is planning to launch a four-wheel-drive mini SUV of the acclaimed 500 minicar, according to latest German media reports.
The Fiat SUV, named the Fiat 500 Giardinetta will fight its rival rival Mini Clubman, and will look similar to it, with a distinct wagon-like appearance
The Fiat 500 Giardinetta, sources say, will almost certainly use the same 4WD system found on the Fiat Panda hatch. The Fiat 500 itself is based on the same platform as the Fiat Panda.
32,000 units of the small-sized Fiat 500 Giardinetta will be produced from 2010 onwards. If this car has the same pull as the Fiat 500 (which eventually will happen, we guess) production will be increased multi-fold. A long wheelbase Fiat 500 has already been produced by Italian coach-builder Castagna, which was displayed recently at the Geneva Motor Show.
