German luxury car maker BMW on Tuesday said it will open its international purchasing office here to cater to its worldwide ancillaries requirement.
NEW DELHI: Joining the clutch of global auto majors who source components from India, German luxury car maker BMW on Tuesday said it will open its international purchasing office here to cater to its worldwide ancillaries requirement.
"We will be setting up an international purchasing office (IPO) which will be headed by an expat to take care of sourcing components for BMW's global operations," BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl said.
He said the office is expected to be operational by August this year.
BMW currently has a purchase unit for its India operations at Chennai.
Kronschnabl said the new purchasing office would be independent of the India operations and would directly report to Munich headquarters.
He said currently BMW sources some IT components from India and with the setting up of the new international purchasing office, the company was looking to expand the basket of products sourced from India.
BMW India's purchase office and the international purchasing office could work in tandem, he said, adding that the two may individually approach vendors or together depending on products.
Asked about the quantum of components that BMW was looking to source from India, Kronschnabl said it was early to comment.
"Once the sourcing team comes to India, they will study what kind of components to be sourced from here," he said.
Following a good response to its recently launched '3 Series' sedan from the Chennai plant, the company has revised its sales target for this year.
"Initially, we had planned to sell about 1,000 cars in India in the calendar year, now we have scaled it up to 1,200 units," Kronschnabl said, adding that the company would roll out its '5 Series' models from the Chennai plant by June.
It is also expected to launch two SUVs X3 and X5 later this year after completing the homologation process to ensure suitability to Indian driving conditions.
In April, BMW sold 107 units of cars, of which 76 units were '3 Series' and the rest from its imported models such as the '7 Series' and SUVs.
He said the company expected to sell 300 units by end of this month to surpass last year's sales of 257 units.
BMW has also been expanding its sales network and by the end of this year, it will have 12 dealers across the country. It will have one dealer each in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Kochi and a second one in Delhi.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}