BMW discontinues the 1-Series in India and decides to focus on the MINI brand instead.
BMW has stopped the production of the 1-Series in India from the start of this calendar year and will be focusing on the MINI brand instead to cater to the entry-level luxury car market.
BMW has sold over 5159 units in the first 7 months of this calendar year (up 11 percent from last year) and expects the same trend for the rest of the year. Of the 5159 units, MINI has contributed 237 units thereby growing at 17 percent.
BMW is seeing a spike in demand for petrol cars especially the petrol version of the 3-Series and the recently launched 5-Series. However, the Government’s intentions to increase the cess from 15 percent to 25 percent on luxury cars has not only got BMW but also other luxury car manufacturers worried. There still is a lot of confusion about the hike in the cess, however, if implemented, it remains to be seen how the market will react.
Meanwhile, BMW recently launched the MINI Clubman, a longer wheelbase version of the MINI hatchback. The MINI line-up in India consists of the MINI 3-door hatch, MINI 5-door hatch, MINI Convertible and the MINI Clubman. The 1-Series was available only in the hatchback version and India clearly missed out on the sedan version of the entry-level BMW.
BMW 1-Series Discontinued
– MINI to cater to the entry-level luxury car market
– BMW 1-Series production stopped from the start of this calendar year
– Meanwhile, BMW is looking to launch the 6-Series Gran Turismo and X3 soon
