‘We will invest $50 million over the next 24 months for developing the Financial Services division,’ said Peter Kronschnabl, president of BMW India.

Speaking at the launch of two new variants of BMW3 series sedan here on Thursday, he said the company had invested heavily in training and development of its associates at all levels across the facilities in India from its Chennai plant to the proposed financial services unit.

While the BMW 330i was priced at Rs 33.40 lakh (ex-showroom Chennai) and the other BMW 320d would come at Rs 23.95 lakh.

Kronschnabl said the BMW Financial Services would be based in Gurgaon as a 100 per cent subsidiary by mid-2010. ‘BMW Financial Services is currently seeking a licence to operate as a non-banking finance company,’ he said.

The financial services division would offer solutions in retail financing for BMW buyers as well as for multi-model customers, financing of fleet owners and commercial financing for BMW dealerships and multi-model dealerships, he said. 

In addition, the company would invest for ramping up its Chennai facility for the production of sports utility vehicle --- BMW X1 this year. The company was poised to launch the new new BMW X1 in India and the new SUV would be CKD (completely knock down) produced at the BMW plant in Chennai and it would be available by the year-end, he said.

However, for the production of X1 and plant expansion, the company would make ‘significant’ investment, he said without giving details. The company would also venture into used-car business this year by unveiling the BMW Premium Selection which would deal only with BMW cars. ‘Only the finest BMW vehicles will be selected for this,’ he said.

Moreover, BMW India plans to offer leasing services for corporates and individuals. At the end of the lease, the car may be delivered to the BMW Premium Selection where it would be considered as an used car for retailing, he said.

Stating that the company sold 3,619 cars in 2009, the BMW India head said they were looking to increase the number by a big margin in 2010 with automobile sales picking up across the country.