Nine years after BMW India began manufacturing operations in Chennai, the carmaker has rolled out its 50,000th locally produced car in India. The landmark car is a 7 Series saloon.
Commenting on the achievement, Dr Jochen Stallkamp, managing director, BMW Plant Chennai, said, “It is with great pride that we are rolling out the 50,000th car locally produced at BMW Plant in Chennai. Each and every BMW that is locally produced is of the same international standards as anywhere else in the world and brings a smile on the faces of our customers. Highly skilled employees, advanced manufacturing processes along with state-of-the-art machinery and technology provide all the necessary ingredients to achieve these tough standards. We are proud of this achievement and look forward to many such milestones in the future.”
BMW Plant Chennai started operations on March 29, 2007. Since then, the BMW Group has consistently increased the number of its locally produced car models. Up to eight car models are locally produced on two assembly lines at BMW Plant Chennai.
At present, they comprise the 1-series, 3-series, 3-series Gran Turismo, 5-series, 7-series, X1, X3 and the X5. In line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, BMW says it has further strengthened its commitment to the Indian market by increasing the level of localisation at BMW Plant Chennai up to 50 percent.
Headquartered in Gurgaon, BMW India is a 100 percent subsidiary of the BMW Group. Till date, BMW Group has invested over Rs 490 crore in BMW India. The wide range of its activities in India include a manufacturing plant in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Mumbai, a training centre in Gurgaon NCR and development of a dealer organisation across major metropolitan centres of the country.
Currently, BMW India has 38 sales outlets in the Indian market and over 650 employees. Also, over 1,200 additional jobs have been created in the dealer and service network.