Bavarian Rhapsody

DR JOCHEN STALLKAMP, MD, BMW GROUP PLANT CHENNAI, HAS STRUCTURED THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS AT PAR WITH GLOBAL STANDARDS.

- Jayashree Kini Mendes

AT A TIME WHEN MASS-MARKET BRANDS are pouring resources into 'premiumising' some of their models, in a drive for bigger margins, a 102-year-old company, has for long been the benchmark for success in the motor industry. The world’s biggest maker of premium-priced cars is well run, has grown steadily and made profits consistently for years. BMW Group India, along with its German counterparts, has all but cornered the worldwide market in expensive, high-performance saloons. BMW Group, globally, has confounded its rivals by maintaining an image of luxury and exclusivity even as it has introduced an ever-broader range of cars.

Today, the BMW Group India is emulating its global model and filling every imaginable niche. The BMW Group Plant Chennai started operations in March 2007, and in India alone the Group employs around 650-plus. The Chennai plant produces the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, the BMW 5 Series, the BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo, the BMW 7 Series, the BMW X1, the BMW X3, the BMW X5 and the MINI Countryman.

Dr Jochen Stallkamp, MD, BMW Group Plant Chennai, says, "We have one BMW Book standard to describe quality and regardless whether we build a BMW 5 series or a BMW 7 series, in any of the 31 production and assembly site of BMW, we ensure the same outcome in terms of quality, and make 50plus variants at the Chennai plant."

Perhaps, this is one of the rare MNCs in automotive that is strongly dedicated to the Make in India programme. Since the campaign began, BMW Group India has been proactive in achieving maximum localisation in its cars. In February, when the company launched the BMW 6 Series GT, it took the locally produced model tally to nine, which includes the MINI Countryman. Following the approach ‘Production follows the market’, the Indian company has accelerated its localisation programme in India.