BMW revises sales target by 40%

Enthused by the response from Indian luxury car buyers, Germany's BMW has upped its sales target in the country for the calendar year 2008 by 40 per cent to 2,800 units. Of these, 2,200 cars will be rolled out from the company's assembly plant near Chennai, while the remaining will be imported from Munich, the premium car maker's global head quarters.

Should BMW achieve its sales target, it would grow over last year's sales by 102 per cent. BMW's optimism comes at a time when the passenger car market in India is worrying about ending up with a single digit growth in the 2008-09 financial year.

The company measuring against its own stringent standards, believes that it has done better than expectation in India so far. While the sales target for 2007 was 1,000 cars, the Indian operations of BMW closed the year with sales of 1,387 luxury vehicles.

David Panton, senior vice-president, Asia-Pacific and president, South Africa, said "This is no small revision for a company like BMW", which prices its cars between Rs 27,00,000 (320i model) and Rs 1.31 crore (M6 convertible).

The company's assembly plant at Mahindra World City, near Chennai can roll out 3,000 cars a year. "This capacity should be enough for our sales target in 2008 and 2009. In any case the 3,000 cars-a-year capacity is on a single shift basis," said Panton. Revision of the current year's target by BMW is in response to the mid-year review of its performance and outlook for the rest of year.

Interestingly, BMW's upward revision of target comes at a time when the Indian car market is not in the best of its form. The domestic passenger vehicle market, after closing 2007-08 with a growth of 12 per cent, is in the midst of major price increases due to rise input costs. The industry is also hit badly by the spiralling oil prices.

The luxury car market, which is limited to a few thousand units in India, is clearly hotting up. This market is currently dominated by BMW and Daimler's Mercedes. Another German luxury marquee Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, is also making its presence felt in India.

Officially Official: 2009 BMW 7 Series

BMW has officially announced the details pertaining to the 5th generation 7 Series, so let's cut right to the chase. In Europe, there are five models arriving on the market in November of this year: the 730d; the 740i and Li; and the 750i and Li. The latter two are powered by the same twin-turbo 4.4L V8 that debuted in the X6. In the U.S.-market 7 Series, the turbo eight is rated at 400 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, and it is the sole engine option being made available. If you want a BMW 7 Series in America, it will be a 750.

Europeans get more choices. The 730d's 3.0L diesel I6 pumps out 245 horses with nearly 400 lb-ft of torque. Despite the grunt, it boasts a combined fuel economy number of 32.6 U.S. miles per gallon (39.2 Imperial). The 740 models are powered by the now-familiar 3.0L twin-turbo gasoline engine. In the 7, the 3.0TT's power output is 326 horses and 332 lb-ft -- enough to hustle the 740Li from 0 to 62 mph in six seconds flat. All the engines are connected to a six-speed automatic. Follow the jump for more details and BMW's official press release.

Lithuanian foam sculptor does BMWs too

Whether or not the foam-skinned car based on a Mercedes-Benz got your motor going yesterday, you have to give the artist credit for painstakingly completing not one, but two of these polyurethane-plated projects. Thanks to a reader's tip, we found this BMW 6 Series-based interpretation wearing the same brilliant red paint, flashy 30-inch dubs, and dual triangulated exhaust tips.
While the sculptor has kept much of the Bangle-butt intact, the overall aesthetics on this execution are much more pleasing to the eye. A glance inside indicates this attempt isn't as thorough as the other (the interior appears merely painted, not sculpted).
However, as witnessed by the junk in the door-mounted map pocket, this one is getting some use on the streets too. Thanks for the tip Tarakonaz!

Pink BMW

For those that like pink, here are some pink BMWs found on the web. I’m not sure why you ladies love pink so much, black is probably much more sexy. It is very hard to find a pink BMW on the road because manufactures do not make them in pink, all pink BMW are custom painted and 100% unique and original.