BMW has no plans for Mideast production plant

Dubai: German auto giant BMW said yesterday it has no plans to establish a factory to produce its luxury cars in the Middle East, even if its rival Volkswagen (VW) has begun its consultancy to build a production unit in the UAE.

"We have no plans to establish a factory to produce our vehicles in Dubai or in the Middle East in the short or long term," said Werner Viljoen, Area Manager for BMW Group Middle East.

"Every company has its own plans, and we reach our targets from our direct imported cars in the region."

He added that BMW has invested more than $200 million in the region to support its partners and distributors across the Middle East.

"We are working with our partners in their expansion plans to build service centres," he added.

He said that BMW experrienced a 14 per cent growth in sales in the Middle East in the first half of 2006.

AGMC, the exclusive importer of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles in Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, yesterday launched two models in its 3 Series, the 325I, and 335I. They are priced from Dh185,000 to Dh235,000.

The company said it will introduce two more new models the 320I, and the 330I before the end of the year.

"The 3 Series has been and still is our best seller and we expect these models to be a tremendous success," said Peter Ihde, Marketing Manager of AGMC.