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Andreas Schaaf, the President of BMW in India seemed to be in an upbeat mood when he announced that Mini Cooper is expected to be launched in the Indian Market in early 2012. Harald Kruger, a member of the board of the BMW group said at the 64th IAA Frankfurt Motor Show 2011 that, “We are introducing the Mini in India to build our brand image”. They are very confident that this car would hit the Indian market very soon.

Mini Cooper was launched in 1959 by and then owned by British Leyland Motor Corporation. It was later bought by Rover Group, then by British Aerospace and finally by BMW AG. When it was launched, it was deemed as a British Icon in the 1960s.

The company is very optimistic about the launch of this car in India, despite the fact that it does not expect the sales to shoot up very high initially. The company does not want to end up like the other hatchbacks like Volkswagen Beetle and Fiat 500. These premium cars did not do very well in the Indian market in spite of their low rates. The company attributes the cause of the low sales figures because of lack of advertising.

BMW has excellent marketing plans; they are eyeing to set up exclusive dealerships for Mini Cooper with the western and northern markets in India.  It will be formally launched in India at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2012. The bookings are expected to start in the next year and shall work hard to build a brand image.

The introductory price of this car shall be Rs. 23 lakhs. Mr. Kruger remarked that, “A lot of Indians who have studied abroad are familiar with the brand. They are our potential customers… they perhaps drove the Mini when they were abroad and will miss it when they are back in India. While Mini in the rest of the world is an ageless brand, in India, we think it will have a huge potential for the young people. It can be driven for an evening dinner out or to a sports event or as a city runabout.”

Along with its stylish looks, the Mini Cooper One also has very trendy interiors. This car has created a niche for itself in the markets in USA and UK. It has been rated very highly for its performance. We will have to wait and watch whether the Mini will be able to allure the Indian buyers.