luxury carmaker BMW India on Thursday launched its third generation X5, which will be produced locally at its Chennai plant.
One of the best ever products by the German luxury carmaker, X5 was launched first in 1999 and since then it has sold 1.3 million X5 worldwide.
The all India ex-showroom price of the BMW X5 is Rs 70,90,000. Diesel variant of BMW X5 will be available at its showrooms across India from June 2014 onwards.
The price is lower mainly on account of local sourcing of equipment. It was selling the previous model, which the company discontinued over a year ago, at 80.6 lakh.
The all new X5 will be available at all the 38 dealers of BMW from next month
Talking about the product BMW India President Philipp Von Sahr said, "this product is the founder of the sports activity vehicle segment and globally best selling car in its class. The third generation BMW X5 will further strengthen our position in Indian luxury car market where potential for this kind of product is immense."
When asked about competition from other luxury carmakers like Audi and Mercedes, Sahr said that the company had long term plan for India and competition was part of the job.
He also said that the company is producing more and more products locally at its Chennai plant which is giving cost advantage to the company.
India is the fourth market after the US, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia where BMW rolls out the X series.
Sahr said the X5 is nick-named 'The Boss' for its sheer market dominance, having sold 1.3 million globally since debut in 1999.
When asked about the local sourcing for the X5, Sahr refused to share details but said BMW Group has 30 OEM vendors in the country and has been sourcing equipment from here for its global supply chain, including, the US, for many years now.
The company does not manufacture the X Series anywhere in Europe, including the home market Germany.
The X5xDrive is the third launch by the company this year after the M6-Grand Coupe and 3 Series GT since January.
The 3-litre diesel machine was unveiled by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who is also BMW India's brand ambassador. The cricket icon said he has been using the first generation X5 since 2002.
BMW sells the imported models like the 6 Series Gran Coupe, the X6, the Z4 and the M6 Gran Coupe through its 38 dealers. Sahr said the number of dealerships will touch 50 by December, 2015. He added that the company will be launching 6-8 models through the rest of the year such as the M3 Sedan, the M4 Coupe and the M5 Sedan.The BMW Group has three brands in the country the BMW, the MINI and the Rolls-Royce, and has so far invested Rs 390 crore (51.8 million euros) in the Chennai plant, which has an installed capacity of 13,000 units per annum, which Sahr said is being ramped up to 17,000 units shortly.