We were present at the BMW X6 facelift launch yesterday where Mr. Philipp von Sahr, President, BMW Group India, was speaking to us about the future of BMW in India.
The ambitious German has lined up a selection of launches to make sure that the BMW brand, which has Audi filling its rear view mirrors, retains its leadership position in India.
Our sources tell us that BMW has plans to launch the facelifted BMW 7 Series in India by April 2013. The BMW 7 Series (Code - F02 LCI) has been given a gentle facelift in early July of 2012 in international markets to keep things fresh. Changes include slight modifications of the front fascia, LED headlamps, increased headroom, an updated iDrive, etc. You can get the complete list of changes over here.
At yesterday’s BMW X6 facelift launch Mr. Philipp von Sahr also confirmed that a locally assembled new BMW 7 Series will be ready for the Indian market in 2013. The BMW 7 Series will be assembled in BMW’s Chennai plant which has a capacity of 11,000 units.
The 7 Series competes with the Mercedes S-Class which is assembled in Mercedes’s Chakan plant.
Will BMW India drop the prices of the 7 Series to dethrone the Mercedes S Class, the current leader in the segment?
BMW 7 Series current price list (ex-showroom) for India
- BMW 740Li - 93,90,000
- BMW 750Li - 1,05,50,000
- BMW 760Li - 1,39,90,000
- BMW 730Ld - 92,50,000
Audi has no plans to assemble the A8 in India and Jaguar also has no plans to locally assemble the XJ in India as it will first try the CKD operation on the XF sedan before going for larger models.
