BMW to drive in 1 Series hatchback and Mini compact in two years

To stay ahead of archrivals Mercedes-Benz and Audi in the booming Indian luxury car market, BMW will bring its small cars like 1 Series hatchback and the highly popular Mini range within next two years. The cars are expected to be priced at Rs. 22-27 lakh.

"The Indian market is evolving fast and, as the leader of luxury car, we are looking at our compact range of cars to meet varied preferences of customers," said BMW India President Andreas Schaaf.

"We are doing everything to stay ahead of the competition and drive into new segment that would keep the customers delighted," he said.

Last week, Mercedes Benz India MD & CEO Peter T Honegg also declared that his company will bring its compact car range of A Class and B Class by 2013.

The luxury carmaker also announced that it would not hike the prices of its locally-produced models, 3 and 5 Series sedans and X1 crossover, despite new import duty norms on completely knocked down (CKD) units, as it has already been assembling the engines of these vehicles in the country.