In response to increasing
worldwide demand for premium cars from the British MINI brand, the BMW Group is
extending its international production network by additional local production
plants for select MINI models. This adds another chapter to the global success
story of MINI. For the first time since the relaunch of the brand in 2001,
preparations are under way for the local production of MINI cars for several
growth markets outside Europe. As a result, cars from the British premium brand
will be rolling off assembly lines beyond Europe for the first time later this
year. Local production for the MINI Countryman is currently being prepared at
the BMW plant in Chennai (formerly Madras), which meets the same stringent
quality standards applied to all production of BMW Group models.
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The new MINI assembly facility
has been brought on stream just a year after the start of MINI sales in India
and will help to meet the steadily increasing demand for MINI cars in the
Indian market.
The first models to be locally
produced in Chennai will be the MINI
Cooper D Countryman and the MINI One Countryman.
Over recent times India has
become an increasingly significant market for the BMW Group, which has operated
its own sales company on the subcontinent since 2007. At the start of 2012,
MINI opened its first five showrooms for cars from the British brand in Delhi,
Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, making India the 100th market in the global
MINI sales network. A total of 302 cars were sold here in between March and
December 2012.
The BMW Group’s decision – in
line with its “production follows the market” strategy – to carry out local
production of the MINI Countryman in India responds to the burgeoning interest
within the country in innovative and high-quality vehicle concepts. MINI is the
first premium manufacturer to be represented in the locally ultra-important
small car segment, and is expecting the Indian car market as a whole to
experience high growth rates over the medium and long term.
BMW’s Chennai production plant
was built in March 2007 and has since taken on production of the BMW 3 Series
and BMW 5 Series as well as the BMW X1 and BMW X3 models. The facility, which
has a production area covering around 13,000 square metres (approx. 140,000 sq.
ft.), is located in the Mahindra World City business zone in the southwest of
India, roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Chennai. State-of-the-art
machine technology, highly skilled employees and advanced manufacturing
processes provide all the necessary ingredients for the production of premium
cars to the highest quality standards.
Expansion of the international
production network.
The ramping up of
international production capacity is primarily aimed at providing a rapid and
flexible supply line to the increasing number of customers in emerging markets.
MINI delivered a record 301, 526 vehicles to customers worldwide in 2012, with
markets on the American and Asian continents making a particularly strong
contribution to this 5.8 per cent increase in sales over the previous year. The
MINI brand will continue to broaden its global perspective over the coming
years, and the strengthening of its international production network is
intended to assist in that process.
Five of the seven models in
the current MINI line-up are produced in the brand’s native Britain. The MINI
plant in Oxford represents the central pillar in the BMW Group’s British
production network, which also includes the Hams Hall engine factory in
Birmingham and the press shop in Swindon. The MINI Countryman and MINI Paceman,
meanwhile, roll off the assembly line at MINI’s production and development
partner Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria and are also supplied with engines from
Hams Hall.
The BMW Group is investing
heavily in the expansion and modernization of the three locations that make up
the MINI production triangle in Britain. Among the factors behind the move is
the planned next stage in the expansion of the MINI model family, which will
further bolster the brand’s global success.
Source: BMW Press
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