http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/07/23/ ... 502101.htm
BMW drives into Dhaka
BMW surprise themselves by doubling their sales target within six months of arriving in Dhaka
Syed Tashfin
As the Bangladesh economy appears to be warming up, prominent foreign car companies are competing with each other at capturing this growing market. Mercedes Benz opened its showroom in Dhaka last year and Volvo was soon to follow.
Now, 'the world's number 2' car brand, BMW, has arrived in the city with its extremely impressive line up of cars. BMW has provided the dealership and has arranged a showroom for Executive Motors Limited, on the same street as Mercedes Benz and Volvo.
Most people in Dhaka may ponder how these companies actually hope to market their highly expensive, yet elegant cars in an economy like Bangladesh's. But the general manager of Executive Motors Ltd, Tayabul Bahar, announced that the market is extremely eligible and ready for such expensive brands.
"The new generation understand what a BMW car is and when it is being provided at almost the same price level as a Pajero, they would probably prefer the BMW 3 series or 5 series over the former," said Tayabul Bahar at the Tejgaon showroom of BMW. "Originally, we were actually given a maximum limit of 25 cars to be sold within a period of six months, but in fact we ended up selling an impressive 42 cars."
This impressive display of dealership, before the company's showroom had even opened, led the president of BMW to fly to Dhaka to unveil the new showroom.
"We aim to sell 100 cars by this December, which is not really impossible since we have already sold 42 cars to our customers this yearT without a showroom or even a BMW car in sight," said the general manager.
Initially, Executive Motors Ltd would allow the customer to choose the car from their brochures and then ship the car as soon as the payment had been made.
"The system of registration was a little tedious previously, considering the fact that BMW is a German brand. But now, the Customs and Excise Department will be involved in the registration of the cars," said Bahar.
It has been reported that BMW has lowered their prices for the Bangladeshi market, and that they are about to set up a plant in Thailand for the ASEAN countries. With the recently revised tax structure, Executive Motors, is going through a rough patch trying to sell their already highly priced cars with an additional 30% added to each unit.
"At the moment, the BMW 3 series saloon cars, are priced at Tk 45,00,000 and the 5 series saloon cars, which has been the most popularly sold car in the city till now, is only Tk 60,00,000. On the other hand, the most popular BMW X5 is priced at 60,000 Euros [about Tk 40,00,000] before tax, for the Bangladeshi market," said Bahar.
"Hopefully this trend in economic growth may lead other brands to introduce their products into the country, which would make this a competitive and much more efficient market," concluded Bahar.