• Home
• /
• Business

BMW to double facility in Dubai on bullish Middle East outlook

"The UAE remains to be our biggest market in the region," he stressed yesterday, saying that 6,000 units of BMW and MINI brands were sold in the country last year, with Saudi Arabia coming in a far second with 2,500 units.

He also said that the company expects to sell 18,000 automobiles in 2009, a growth that would drive it to become the market leader in luxury vehicles in the region, which posted a six-per cent increase in 2007 sales to 15,150 units of BMW and MINI.

Last year's growth would continue for the coming two years, he said, with the introduction of new products, including the BMW X6 and the new 7 Series. Set for launch in May, the X6 is BMW's first Sports Activity Coupe while the new 7 Series will be unveiled in December.

The other new models that will further strengthen the automaker's position in the Middle East include the new BMW M3 Sedan, the new 1 Series Convertible and Coupe and the MINI Clubman.

Horton reiterated a promising business for BMW in 2009, saying that by then owners of two-year-old X5 will be ready to buy a new vehicle. He stressed that "newness and innovation" in BMW products would make the regional company "overtake" Mercedes Benz in the Middle East.

His office covers the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman and Qatar; the Levant countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria; and Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq. Operations in the last two countries are closed.

BMW achieved a record 14-per cent rise in sales across the Gulf states in 2007, and expects to maintain a double-digit growth for this year, as against the global growth of 8-10 per cent.

"The Middle East has great opportunity and potential for us, as almost all of the markets across the region have been growing over the past few years," Horton said. "We have recorded a noteworthy growth, which will continue for at least the next three years."

Abu Dhabi Motors, the exclusive importer of BMW Group's automobiles in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, boosted the sales of BMW and MINI with a 36 per cent increase to 2,561 units in 2007 while its importer for Dubai and Northern Emirates, AGMC, had the highest overall sales after delivering 3,594 units to customers.

Besides the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the other top markets in the Gulf were Qatar and Kuwait, with year-on-year sales increases of 25 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. Syria recorded the highest growth in the Levant area at 22 per cent, building on the phenomenal growth of 94 per cent in 2006.

Last year BMW delivered 1.5 million vehicles to customers worldwide, up 9.2 per cent from the previous year's 1.37 million units. Sales for the BMW brand alone added 7.7 per cent to 1.3 million vehicles from 1.2 million units for the same period.

The luxury carmaker has been offering packaged measures of low petrol consumption and reduced carbon dioxide emission as a standard in its new vehicles and innovative designs, such as low-slung roofline and extremely long wheelbase, to attract more customers.