BMW rolls out the locally produced 5 series

The Indonesian unit of BMW Group rolled out the locally assembled BMW 5 series, currently the world’s best selling mid-sized luxury sedan, from the company’s Gaya Motor plant at Sunter, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.

The rollout of the 5 series marked the addition of a third model produced at the local plant along with the 3 series and X1.

Ramesh Divyanathan, president director of BMW Group Indonesia said that the 5 series assembled at Gaya Motor plant comprised the new BMW 520i, 528i, and 520d variants.

The 520i and 528i models are equipped with the new generation of 2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engines with TwinPower Turbo technology, combining a TwinScroll turbocharger with Valvetronic, Double Vanos, and high projection injection.

Both models will be in the showrooms in early January 2012, while the 520d model with a BMW advanced diesel engine will be assembled locally beginning February 2012, he said.

Throughout the production network, the BMW Group applies the same high standards for all processes, quality control and safety requirements, supervised by 15 experts from Munich.

“We continue to believe in the great potential of Indonesia. As the world’s most successful premium car manufacturer, BMW Group’s expansion of its production activities highlights Indonesia’s significant and growing position in the world economy,” Ramesh said.

He said that BMW is planning to double the production rate in 2012 as well as adding more new models to the production line in the future.

The production line at Gaya Motor produced four units daily and production would be increased to eight units daily next year, he said. “The expansion of production activities follows BMW Group’s announcement this year of a Rp 100 billion [US$11 million] new investment in the country,” he said.

The fresh investment funds were used to improve facilities at Gaya Motor plant in order to help modernize the assembly lines such as the installation of new tools and equipment, recruitment of staff as well as training, and an addition of three more authorized dealers next year.

Currently, its dealership network covers 11 new-car outlets and one used-car dealership spread throughout various cities like Jakarta, Semarang, Medan, Denpasar and Balikpapan.

He said that BMW had seen positive growth in sales from year to year.

“We have seen a 27 percent increase of sales this year and we are looking for double digit growth next year,” he said.

According to Robert Sumabrata, of BMW Indonesia corporate communication, BMW’s total sales for 2011 as of November reached 1,399 units. BMW sold 1,240 cars last year, a 37.62 percent increase from 901 cars in 2009.

According to data issued by the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industry (Gaikindo), the sales of expensive cars continued to increase. Mercedes-Benz remained the market leader in the upscale car market segment with total sales of 4,046 cars as of November, with BMW in second place with total sales of 1,399 cars.

 Gaikindo said that total sales reached 813,856 cars during the period January to November, this year, an increase of 17 percent from 694.649 cars during the same period, last year.

The association has estimated that total car sales will increase by 12 percent to 820,000 this year from 764,710 in 2010.