PressClub México · Article.
MINI expands its international production network: Local production begins at the Chennai plant in India.
Thu Apr 18 18:54:15 CEST 2013 Comunicado de prensa
Successful MINI Countryman to be produced outside Europe for the first time – Local production of vehicle at BMW’s Chennai plant will meet the BMW Group’s most exacting quality standards – Expansion of the international production network responds to growing demand for MINI cars.
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Lilian Cortes
BMW Group
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Munich. 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.
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
modernisation 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.