[Turbanator]

Unless these are for any concessional import duty customer, BMW will soon flood the market with 320 & 520 Petrol all German origin CBU , now given the custom assessable values it will be interesting to see how will they price these.

If these are indeed for market distribution , it's a very bold move and in case these are some customer specific cars then definitely largest order for them yet.

There are about 9 pages of data with close to 30 imports on every page , we are looking at about 250 Cars being imported which might be a single largest import.

https://www.zauba.com/import-bmw+new...1-hs-code.html


Edit - just checked - they have updated their price list for 3 series and spec sheet for both 3 & 5 petrol at Indian website.

[VRPAI]

Great news!
I've always admired BMW's for the handling they offer. I seriously hope they bring back the petrols and price them well too. Really would love to own one in the future . It'll be a dream come true when it happens though .

I want them to get back to the top again and they surely seem to heading the right way


EDIT: Are they bringing manual's too?! . And yeah thanks for sharing!

[reignofchaos]

If they price it well, this car is a tuner's dream. This has the same n20 block as the 328i. Only thing different are the pistons and software. This engine will reliably do 260 whp with just a boost increase via software upgrade.

Edit: Looks like it costs the same as the 320d.

[Fstlndrive]

The new price list and specs for the 3 series is on the India BMW website. It is priced same as the diesel.

[Strella]

Well, the launch of 320/520i is a bit of a disappointment. They should have given some more petrol options.

Why are they taking the indian market for granted. People are aware. I am not too sure if people would settle for such engines.
328/330/340i would have have been very welcome.

Sad.

[vb-saan]

Good to see the petrol line-up back for the 3. Unfortunately, the 1-series still remain diesel-only; that too with just one variant. Added engine options and some good marketing can actually revive it against the likes of the A-Class (it looks quite good after the face-lift).

Interestingly, the 320i Prestige customers have to live with beige interiors; black is not an option anymore.

[Sahil]

These could well be imports for hotel chains for whom CBU's work out as cheap or cheaper than CKD cars under the EPCG scheme.

Can't be a life to counter the Delhi diesel ban as the 320/520d continue to sell their since they are 1995cc and not over the limit.

If these were for the regular consumer market they would probably choose to import higher capacity engines to counter the diesel ban on the 530d.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Sahil

These could well be imports for hotel chains for whom CBU's work out as cheap or cheaper than CKD cars under the EPCG scheme.

I don't think EPCG scheme is there for Hotels anymore. Last I remember it was scrapped.

If you see most hotels now have locally made cars and not CBU's under EPCG.

I was surprised to see that Taj Mumbai had a fleet of new C220 mercs parked around gateway of India. The last time I was there the fleet was almost entirely of Jaguar XJ and XF.

[The Rationalist]

The petrol models are priced exactly as the diesels! So the move is not to garner sales I guess. At the same price, the more torquier diesel would be a better choice I think. I haven't heard anything great about these petrol engines either. What could be the reason to price both versions similarly?

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

The petrol models are priced exactly as the diesels! So the move is not to garner sales I guess. At the same price, the more torquier diesel would be a better choice I think. I haven't heard anything great about these petrol engines either. What could be the reason to price both versions similarly?

Duties - CBU imports are taxed rather heavily and as a result the prices shoot up. Considering the declared value of those imports, I wonder if BMW is actually making any profit on these cars.

[Turbanator]

Duties - CBU imports are taxed rather heavily and as a result the prices shoot up. Considering the declared value of those imports, I wonder if BMW is actually making any profit on these cars.

Just checked with the local dealer, these are indeed for sales specifically for Delhi NCR market. I have serious doubts on the working of local management of BMW - don't know who took a call to allow an Import of this size to sell at a loss ? Each 3 series will costs them upwards of 45 Lac at present CBU Taxes + VAT + CST + Handling if given assessable rates are considered. Add dealer margin and other overheads and we are looking at a loss of about 5 lac on each car at least, and the way BMW has bought the Discount culture , most of the customers will be still asking for Discounts.

To best of my knowledge BMW 2 Ltr Diesels are technically less than 2000 cc and can be easily registered in NCR, unlike Mercedes which have problems even with their smallest 4 cylinder engine . Can't they have simply arranged Petrol cylinders and still assembled , of course, such kits would have resulted in higher duties but these would have still substantially lower than CBU duties.

If they had to burn the money perhaps they could have got some different variants - like 6 Cylinder Petrol or even 740 D which is in short supplies.

It's definitively going to cost someone dearly when losses are calculated, I can see no reasons of authorising such imports.

[GTO]

At least it's a small step in the right direction. I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg - petrols will soon be offered across the BMW range. Inevitable.

I guess this is a result of new management - related thread. The ex-boss Philipp von Sahr was so incompetent that he pulled the plug on petrols at a time when the market was moving toward them! What a harebrained move.

In reference to questions as to why it's priced on par with the 320d, remember this is a direct-injection turbo petrol. I don't see any cost difference from a diesel (as was the case with n/a petrols).

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I was surprised to see that Taj Mumbai had a fleet of new C220 mercs parked around gateway of India. The last time I was there the fleet was almost entirely of Jaguar XJ and XF.

Tata likes the C more than the XE

[Turbanator]

I guess this is a result of new management

yes , this is what my contacts tell me as well. Now launching Petrol versions for this lineup is surely a correct step but I am not convinced with this method of launching something at a loss just to increase presence - BMW is probably not having money from investors like OLA / Uber or want to create a new segment .

This man looks in a hurry to get numbers but he should have got a smaller lot in my opinion unless Germany had given some lower rates (not reflecting in custom assessable value ) By my experience apart from metro's, Diesel is still preferred and even in market like Delhi / NCR it will be interesting to see how many of these are actually sold. I can forsee a situation with dealers sitting on these Imports for couple of months before these are eventually sold at Discounts.

[SnS_12]

The new 3-series petrol, badged 320i, is available in two trim levels with prices starting at Rs 36.90 lakh for the entry-level Prestige trim and Rs 42.70 lakh for the top Luxury Line variant. (All prices ex-showroom, Delhi)

Full Article: http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...ol-401811.aspx

[vishal9999]

Fantastic move by BMW.
Definitely a step in the right direction. Would have preferred more powerful petrol engines with manual transmission. Since petrol heads would definitely want manual drive.