About half of all BMW’s sold in India this year have been of the 3-series variety. You’d expect it to be so. Nevertheless, as of the first 3/4 of the year, that is just 500 BMW 3’s. The 5-series makes up the majority of the remaining sales (with BMW India’s chief figuring the 5-series will soon overtake the 3) and the X5 and 7-series selling in small numbers. Peter Kronschanabi expects to see only 50 BMW M3’s sold in the first year after its introduction and not a single 1-series.
The lesson you learn from this: In a word, potential. 1.74 million cars were sold in India in 2006, and the market is growing at a rate of 20% per annum. In a nation of a billion people, the ‘potential’ for sales growth is hindered more by poor infrastructure than personal finances.
